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THE 

SPIRIT OF AMERICA 


BOOK TWO 
























June , 1919 , Campaign for Members 











THE 

SPIRIT OF AMERICA 


EDITED BY 

ABRAM ROYER BRUBACHER 

President of New York State College for Teachers 
AND 

JANE LOUISE JONES 

of the English Department, New York 
State College for Teachers 



BOOK TWO 


GARDEN CITY NEW YORK 

DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 

1920 











COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY 
DOUBLE DAY, PAGE * COMPANY 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF 
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 
INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN 



© Cl, A 5 6 5 9 5 7 



PREFACE 


The Spirit of America has expressed itself 
in literature and history throughout our entire 
period of existence in the western world. In 
public addresses, in books and pamphlets, in 
prose and poetry, this literature of devotion to 
American ideals may be found. These books, 
“The Spirit of America,” endeavor to bring to¬ 
gether materials that will show forth the spirit 
which is America. Book Two is largely bio¬ 
graphical. The high qualities of patriotic devo¬ 
tion to country are embodied in the great per¬ 
sons who have made America—soldiers, pioneers, 
statesmen, inventors—all freemen and the sons 
of freemen. 

This opportunity cannot be passed by with¬ 
out acknowledgment of the admirable spirit of 
cooperation which publishers have shown us in 
the preparation of these books. Specific men¬ 
tion of courtesies and helps from publishers is 
given with each selection. 

Abram Royer Brtjbacher 
Jane Louise Jones 









BOOK TWO 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Henry Hudson. 3 

Henry Hudson’s Quest Burton Egbert Stevenson 9 

Columbus. Joaquin Miller 11 

John Smith.13 

Our Pilgrim Fathers.17 

William Penn.27 

Lord Baltimore.30 

James Oglethorpe.32 

Independence Bell . . Author Unknown 35 

Patrick Henry.38 

The Renegade. Sir Walter Scott 42 

Nathan Hale .... Francis Miles Finch 43 

Paul Revere’s Ride 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 45 

Nathan Hale, Patriot .50 

The Man Who Would Not Be King ... 53 

Washington’s Rules of Conduct .57 

Selection from “The Boston Hymn” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 60 

The Man Who Believed in the People ... 61 

Daniel Boone .65 

vii 











Contents 


viii 

The Name of Old Glory James Whitcomb Riley 73 

A Star for Each State.76 

The Story of “The Star-Spangled Banner” 

J. L. Harbour 77 
The Star-Spangled Banner Francis Scott Key 83 
Old Flag . . • . . . . Hubbard Parker 85 

To Arms. Park Benjamin 86 

Old Ironsides . . . Oliver Wendell Holmes 88 

The New Hampshire School-Boy 

Daniel Webster 89 

The Youth of Lincoln . Eldridge S. Brooks 93 

Three Lincoln Anecdotes.107 

“Boots and Saddles” . Anna Robinson Watson 110 

Robert E. Lee.114 

A Nation’s Strength Ralph Waldo Emerson 121 
Shoulder to Shoulder . . . Clinton Scollard 122 

The Voice of Duty . Ralph Waldo Emerson 123 

The Volunteer . William Hamilton Haynes 123 

My Country. Marie Zetterberg 124 

The Red Cross Mother.125 

I Hear America Singing . . Walt Whitman 134 

A Message from France . . Odette Gastinet 135 

Our Country . . . John Greenleaf Whittier 136 

Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American . . . 137 

John Joseph Pershing.144 

To the Allies .... Laura E. Richards 149 

Woodrow Wilson.150 

The Ship of State Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 154 

Our Young Americans.155 

The Rules of the Game William J. Hutchins 158 




BOOK TWO 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Young America on Parade 

. Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Hendrik Hudson’s Last Voyage 

. . . 6 

The Landing of Columbus 

. . , 10 

On Board the Mayflower . 

. . . 18 

Plymouth Rock . 

. . . 22 

William Penn with the Indians 

. . . 26 

The Liberty Bell. 

. . . 34 

Independence Hall .... 

. . . 38 

George Washington .... 

. . . 54 

The Home of Washington 

. . . 58 

Daniel Boone . . . 

. . . 66 

Boy Scouts . 

. . . 74 

The Stars and Stripes Abroad 

. . . 82 

The Stars and Stripes at Home . 

. . . 86 

The Lincoln Cabin .... 

... 102 

Lincoln and Tad . 

ix 

... 106 








X 


Illustrations 


Robert E. Lee 
Shoulder to Shoulder . 
The Red Cross Mother 
Theodore Roosevelt 
John J. Pershing . 
Woodrow Wilson . 







THE 

SPIRIT OF AMERICA 


BOOK TWO 








THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA 


HENRY HUDSON 

Suppose you had never seen or even heard of 
an airship; and then one day, as you were coming 
out of school, a big biplane with its spreading 
white wings and roaring motors came gliding 
down from the clouds and landed on your play¬ 
ground. Can’t you imagine how surprised, ex¬ 
cited, and even a little frightened you and your 
companions would be? 

That is the way the Indians of Manhattan 
Island felt when for the first time they saw a 
ship approaching their peaceful harbor. 

This ship, called the Half-Moon, was com¬ 
manded by Henry Hudson, an adventurous 
Englishman who had sold his services to a 
Dutch trading company. He was trying to 
find for his employers a route to India which 
would be shorter than the old one around the 
cape of Africa. After six months at sea he came 
to what we know as New York Harbor in Septem- 

3 


4 


The Spirit of America 

ber, 1609, two years after John Smith had 
founded his colony at Jamestown. 

Excitedly the Indians thronged to the shore, 
trying to discover the nature of the strange 
object. 

“It’s a bird,” declared a young brave. “I 
can see its white wings.” 

“Or a fish,” suggested another, “swimming or 
floating on the sea.” 

“No,” cried one who had sharper eyes than 
the others, “it’s a wigwam or a very large canoe.” 

Fearful of some approaching calamity, they 
sent out runners and water-men to call the chiefs 
together. Some wanted to hide in the woods, 
but the wise men of the tribe thought it best for 
all to remain on the shore. 

The first water-man returned, crying, “It’s 
a canoe, and Mannitto himself comes to visit us.” 

At this the red men became more excited than 
ever, for Mannitto was the Supreme Being 
whom they worshiped. They feared that they 
had incurred his displeasure and that he was 
coming to punish them. 

As rapidly as possible, the squaws provided 
meat for a sacrifice and prepared their best food. 
The braves bedecked themselves in their gayest 
feather-robes and most precious copper orna¬ 
ments. As well as they could in all the confu- 


Henry Hudson 5 

sion, they started a dance in honor of the Great 
Spirit. 

Other messengers returned, saying, “It is a 
canoe of many colors and crowded with living 
creatures whose faces are white. Only one— 
Mannitto himself—is red.” 

The large canoe stopped. In a small one the 
man who wore red clothes came ashore with a 
few of his servants. Cordially he greeted the 
chiefs, who gathered in a circle. They grunted in 
friendly fashion and wondered to themselves 
why the Supreme Being had a white skin. 

Then Hudson, who was the supposed Man¬ 
nitto, had one of his crew pour some liquor into 
a glass. He bowed to the company, drank, 
had the glass refilled, and handed it to the chief 
next to him. He smelt of the liquor and passed 
it to the next chief, who did the same. It was 
coming back to Hudson, untasted, when one, more 
self-sacrificing than the others, said that, rather 
than offend the Great Spirit, he would drink 
the strange-smelling water. Fully expecting to 
die, he bade farewell to his countrymen and 
gulped the contents of the glass. 

Soon he began to stagger, then fell down in a 
deep sleep, and seemed about to breathe his last. 
The people, who mourned him as dead, were as¬ 
tonished when a few hours later he jumped up 


6 


The Spirit of America 

and asked for more of the Mannitto’s 4 fire¬ 
water.” Encouraged by his example, all the 
chiefs demanded rum and drank till they were 
intoxicated. 

In giving them liquor Hudson was simply 
following the custom of the time and meant to 
do them no harm. His sailors later treated the 
Indians cruelly, one white man losing his life in 
consequence; but their master was kind to the 
savages. Pleased by their friendly reception, he 
gave them presents which delighted their hearts, 
although, in their ignorance, they used the stock¬ 
ings as tobacco-pouches and hung the axes and 
hoes from their necks as ornaments. 

From New York Harbor the Half-Moon 
ascended the river to a point near the present 
city of Albany. Hudson realized that this 
stream was not the channel between two seas 
for which the Dutch merchants were looking, 
but he was not discouraged. He had found 
the finest harbor he had ever seen and a long, 
navigable river well supplied with fish and bor¬ 
dered by unbroken stretches of forest. Here 
was an abundance of timber for Dutch sailing 
vessels and a pleasant, fruitful country for settlers 
who might wish to trade with the Indians. 
Surely this discovery would be of value to 
Holland. 


Hendrik Hudson s Last Voyage: Adrift in Hudson s Bay 























7 


Henry Hudson 

On his way home he stopped at Dartmouth, 
England, where he was detained by King James, 
who forbade his leaving the country and laid 
claim to the territory he had explored. Hudson 
managed, however, to send an account of his 
discovery back to Holland. 

The next year he started on what proved to be 
his last voyage. This time he sailed for English¬ 
men who wished to find a northern route to 
India. 

Sturdily the little Discoverer pushed north past 
the Orkney Islands, past Iceland and Greenland, 
down through the strait and into the bay which 
now bears Hudson’s name. There were many 
difficulties, but nothing could shake the splendid 
courage of the master. Contrary winds, biting 
cold, sickness, and hunger only strengthened his 
resolve to make that voyage count in the history 
of the world. He was determined not to turn 
back before he had found a passage to the Indies. 

It would seem as if any crew would be glad 
to follow so brave a master, but Hudson’s were 
a cowardly, mutinous lot who always blamed him 
when things went wrong. They plotted to get 
rid of him and sail by themselves to England. 

One day they actually put Hudson, his seven- 
year-old son, and six sailors, who were lame or 
sick, into a boat. They gave them some powder 


8 


The Spirit of America 

and shot, a gun, an iron pot, and a little meal, 
and cast them adrift on the icy bay. 

Just before they left, Philip Staffe, a man whom 
the wicked crew wished to keep because of his 
skill as a carpenter, refused to go with them. 
They were, he declared, a pack of thieves who 
would all be hanged when they reached England. 
Of his own will he got into the small boat, re¬ 
solved to cast his lot with his master’s. His 
loyalty must have been of some comfort to Hud¬ 
son as he saw the Discoverer “let fall the mainsail, 
out with the topsails, and fly as from an enemy.” 

That is the last that is known of the brave 
explorer. Ships which the King of England 
sent to rescue him could never find a trace of 
the forsaken men. It is thought that they soon 
perished of cold and hunger. 

But Hudson’s fame will never die as long as 
there are Americans to tell the story of his 
heroism. As a result of his voyage in 1609 , the 
Dutch, who were a very thrifty, energetic people, 
settled in this country. They erected forts, 
established a flourishing fur trade with the In¬ 
dians, and maintained great estates along the 
banks of the Hudson River. For trinkets worth 
about twenty-five dollars they bought from the 
Indians the entire Island of Manhattan, which is 
to-day the richest section of land in the world. 


9 


Henry Hudson's Quest 

They called their colony in this country New 
Netherlands, and it kept the name until 1664. 
Then the English, getting possession of the terri¬ 
tory, rechristened it New York. 

Now when we think how great the State of 
New York has become, we realize our debt to 
Hudson. Through his courage and thorough¬ 
ness, the Hollanders settled here and the whole 
world learned of the harbor and river which have 
helped to make the country prosperous. 

HENRY HUDSON’S QUEST* 

Out from the harbor of Amsterdam 
The Half-Moon turned her prow to sea; 

The coast of Norway dropped behind, 

Yet Northward still kept she 
Through the drifting fog and the driving snow, 
Where never before man dared to go: 

“O Pilot, shall we find the strait that leads to the 
Eastern Sea?” 

“A waste of ice before us lies—we must turn 
back,” said he. 

Westward they steered their tiny bark. 
Westward through weary weeks they sped, 
Till the cold gray strand of a stranger-land, 
Loomed through the mist ahead. 


‘Reprinted by permission of the author and of the publishers, The Youths Companion. 



10 


The Spirit of America 

League after league they hugged the coast, 

And their Captain never left his post: 

4< 0 Pilot, see you yet the strait that leads to the 
Eastern Sea?” 

“I see but rocks and the barren shore; no strait 
is there,” quoth he. 

They sailed to the North—they sailed to the 
South— 

And at last they rounded an arm of sand 

Which held the sea from a harbor’s mouth— 
The loveliest in the land; 

They kept their course across the bay, 

And the shore before them fell away: 

“O Pilot, see you not the strait that leads to the 
Eastern Sea?” 

“Hold the rudder true! Praise Christ Jesu! the 
strait is here,” said he. 

Onward they glide with wind and tide. 

Past marshes gray and crags sun-kist; 

They skirt the sills of green-clad hills. 

And meadows white with mist— 

But alas! the hope and the brave, brave dream! 

For rock and shallow bar the stream: 

“O Pilot, can this be the strait that leads to the 
Eastern Sea?” 

“Nay, Captain, nay; ’t is not this way; turn 
back we must,” said he. 



From a Painting by Albert Beirstadt in the American Museum of Natural History, New York 

The Landing of Columbus in the New World 





































































































i 




* 
































Columbus 


11 


Full sad was Hudson’s heart as he turned 
The Half-Moon’s prow to the South once 
more; 

He saw no beauty in crag or hill. 

No beauty in curving shore; 

For they shut him away from that fabled main 
He sought his whole life long, in vain: 

“O Pilot, say, can there be a strait that leads 
to the Eastern Sea?” 

“God’s crypt is sealed! ’T will stand revealed 
in His own good time,” quoth he. 

Burton Egbert Stevenson. 

COLUMBUS* 

Behind him lay the gray Azores, 

Behind the gates of Hercules; 

Before him not the ghost of shores, 

Before him only shoreless seas. 

The good mate said: “Now must we pray. 

For lo! the very stars are gone. 

Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?” 
“Why, say: ‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’” 

“My men grow mutinous day by day; 

My men grow ghastly wan and weak,” 

The stout mate thought of home; a spray 
Of salt wave dashed his swarthy cheek. 


•Reprinted by permission of the Harr Wagner Publishing Company. 



12 


The Spirit of America 

“What shall I say, brave Admiral, say. 

If we sight naught but the seas at dawn?” 
“Why, you shall say at break of day: 

‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!’” 

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow. 
Until at last the blanched mate said: 

“Why, now not even God would know 
Should I and all my men fall dead. 

These very winds forget their way. 

For God from these dread seas is gone. 

Now speak, brave Admiral; speak and say—” 
He said: “ Sail on! sail on! and on! ” 

They sailed. They sailed. Then spoke the 
mate: 

“This mad sea shows its teeth to-night. 

He lifts his lip, he lies in wait, 

With lifted teeth, as if to bite! 

Brave Admiral, say but one good word; 

What shall we do when hope is gone?” 
jThe words leapt as a leaping sword: 

“Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!” 

Then pale and worn, he kept his deck, 

And peered through darkness. Ah, that night. 
Of all dark nights! And then a speck— 

A light! A light! A light! A light! 


13 


John Smith 

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! 

It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn; 

He gained a world; he gave that world 
Its grandest lesson: “On! and on!” 

Joaquin Miller. 

JOHN SMITH 
The Founder of Virginia 

In December, 1606 , three small ships set out 
from England for the shores of America. There 
were on board, besides the crew, one hundred 
and five men. Of these only twelve had ever 
worked with their hands. The others called 
themselves “gentlemen” and were braving the 
perils of the sea in order to get rich quickly in 
America. 

Their ships came in April, 1607, to what is 
now Virginia. They entered Chesapeake Bay 
and sailed up a beautiful river, which they 
named “James” for King James of England. 
The place where they settled they called James¬ 
town. 

To the men, weary of long months at sea, the 
country seemed a paradise. The air was heavy 
with the fragrance of flowers. The trees and 
hills appeared more beautiful than those of old 


14 ' The Spirit of America 

England. The strawberries, oysters, and wild 
ducks, which they found, tasted better than any 
food they had ever eaten. So these gentlemen 
very foolishly settled down to a life of idling, 
eating, and drinking. 

Fortunately, there was one among the number 
who was more sensible than the others. This 
was Captain John Smith, soldier and adventurer. 
He saw that the woods were full of Indians, who 
might turn against the white men at any time. 
He realized that the food in the ships would not 
last forever, and that the men should be raising 
corn instead of loafing or hunting for gold. 

But Smith could not persuade the colonists to 
work. They disliked his interference and said 
that he wanted to be King of Virginia. They 
even refused to let him sit in the council which 
governed the colony. 

The weather grew hot, and a terrible fever 
broke out among the settlers. Food became 
scarce, and every day three or four men died 
from sickness or famine. 

John Smith, as he heard the groans of the sick 
and the starving, decided to come to the rescue. 
Hastening to an Indian village near by, he 
demanded corn of the savages. When they 
refused it, he fired upon them and captured 
their war-god, Okee. This was only an idol 


John Smith 


15 


made of skins, stuffed with moss and leaves, and 
decorated with beads; but it was very precious 
to the Indians. To ransom Okee, they brought 
venison, turkeys, and bread. Then, as a sign of 
friendship, they danced and sang till Smith de¬ 
parted. 

Upon his return to the colony, conditions there 
began to improve. The amount of sickness 
grew less and food became more plentiful. 
Smith set the men to mowing, binding, thatching, 
and building houses. He made them work hard; 
but always he kept the most difficult task for 
himself. 

After a time he felt that he could leave the 
colony in order to explore the surrounding coun¬ 
try. With nine settlers and two Indian guides, 
he started up the Chickahominy River. After 
a few days’ sailing, he found the river so narrow 
and shallow that he had to leave his boat and 
proceed in a canoe. 

He landed and was going through the woods 
with one of his guides when he was suddenly 
attacked by two savages. They captured him 
and carried him from one chief to another, until 
they came at last to the great emperor, Powhatan. 

This chief hated the whites and was glad to 
have their leader in his power. At his order, 
warriors seized Smith, tied his hands behind him, 




16 


The Spirit of America 

and placed his head upon two large stones. With 
clubs raised, they stood ready to beat out his 
brains, when Pocahontas, the chief’s little 
daughter, rushed forward, threw her arms about 
the poor prisoner’s neck and begged her father 
to spare his life. Powhatan, moved by his 
daughter’s plea, relented and allowed John Smith 
to return to Jamestown. 

Pocahontas, after this adventure, often visited 
the colony and became fond of the white people 
and their ways. Once, when she learned that 
her father was going to lead an attack against 
them, she stole away in the night, traveled 
through the woods during a heavy storm, and 
warned her friends of their danger. When Pow¬ 
hatan came, he found the colonists prepared 
and gave up the idea of attacking them. 

John Smith, through his courage and energy, 
became president of the council and leader of the 
colony. He established the rule that no man 
should eat who would not work. Most of the 
settlers saw the justice of this and learned to 
disregard callous hands and blistered feet. They 
actually began to like work. 

Then, just as the colony was really prospering. 
Smith met with a serious accident on the James 
River. While he was asleep in his boat, a bag 
of gunpowder exploded and severely wounded 


17 


Our Pilgrim Fathers 

him in the thigh. To relieve the pain, he jumped 
into the water and almost drowned before his 
companions rescued him. At Jamestown he 
found a ship about to sail for England, which 
he boarded in order to go to London for medical 
treatment. He never returned. 

His work, however, lived after him. The 
prosperity which he had established continued. 
Out of the colony which he had saved from utter 
ruin grew the great Commonwealth of Virginia. 


OUR PILGRIM FATHERS 
Life in England 

William Brewster looked anxious as he 
snuffed the candles which flickered in the big 
room of the manor house. 

“Mary,” he said to his wife, who was sitting 
near, “it is past time for our friends to come. 
I fear they have again fallen into the hands of 
the officers.” 

At that minute there came at the door a sharp 
tap-tap which made Mary Brewster jump. 
Her husband crossed the room quickly and let 
in a number of men and women with faces as 
grave as his own. Soon others followed, a few 
at a time, until the room was almost full. 


18 


The Spirit of America 

These people were farmers who lived in the 
little villages of Scrooby and Austerfield in 
England. They rented land of the rich and 
powerful Archbishop of York and paid the rent 
to William Brewster, who was the Archbishop’s 
agent. Most of them, except Brewster, were 
poor; but even so, they would have been happy if 
they could have worshiped God as they pleased. 

At that time in England everybody was re¬ 
quired by law to attend the church established 
by the state. The people could not decide what 
the services should be like or choose their own 
clergymen. Everything connected with the 
Church was arranged by bishops who were con¬ 
trolled by the King. 

The men and women who were gathered at 
William Brewster’s house did not like the form 
of service in the Established Church, and they 
thought that many of the bishops and ministers 
were wicked. Feeling that it was really a sin to 
worship in the old way, they broke the law by 
choosing a minister of their own and holding 
services by themselves. Because of this, some 
of them had been arrested and kept in jail for 
months while others knew that their homes were 
watched night and day. 

Now they had met to decide whether they 
would remain in England or leave for another 



Signing the Pilgrims' Compact on Board the “Mayflower 








































































. 





















































Our Pilgrim Fathers 19 

land. John Robinson, their minister, explained 
the situation. 

“Friends,” he said, “the time has come when 
we must determine definitely what course we 
will take. Shall we stay here to endure persecu¬ 
tion and perhaps death at the hands of our ene¬ 
mies or shall we go to Holland, where we can 
worship God as we think right and bring up our 
children in peace? Let us hear first from our 
good William Brewster.” 

At this William Brewster, who had lived in 
Holland as a young man, told the people what 
he remembered of that country. He said the 
Dutch were thrifty and exceedingly neat. They 
had well-kept roads and comfortable homes. 
Some tilled the soil while others manufactured 
cloth or worked in the big fisheries. Many of 
the common people could read and write, for 
there were good schools and free instruction for 
poor children. Best of all, there was religious 
freedom. In that land they could worship as 
they pleased. 

“But,” said one of his listeners, “I have heard 
that the Hollanders often fight with other na¬ 
tions. We do not wish to expose our children to 
the perils of war.” 

“And we do not know the language,” said 
another. 


20 


The Spirit of America 

“How could we get away from here?” ques¬ 
tioned a third. “No one can leave England 
without permission, and the officers would never 
let us go.” 

Mr. Brewster answered the people, patiently. 
He explained that other men and women from 
other countries had fled to Holland and had been 
able to dwell there peacefully, to learn the lan¬ 
guage, and to make a living. It seemed to him 
that the people of Scrooby could do as well. 
Their departure from England, of course, would 
have to be a secret. He himself would make the 
arrangements. 

After much talking and many earnest prayers, 
the people decided that they would become pil¬ 
grims to Holland. Even the women, who wept 
at the thought of leaving Scrooby, felt that the 
right to worship God in their own way would 
be worth any hardships. 

They left for Holland in 1608. 

Life in Holland 

In spite of many perils on land and sea, the 
company arrived at Amsterdam, where they 
lived for about a year. From there they went 
by canal-boat to Leyden, and learned the vari¬ 
ous trades connected with the making of cloth. 


21 


Our Pilgrim Fathers 

Instead of tilling the soil as they had done in 
England, they washed wool, combed it, or dyed 
it dark brown or black. The more skilled spun 
it into thread or wove the thread into heavy, 
coarse cloth. 

They worked hard, but they received such small 
wages that they remained very poor, Even the 
little children had to toil all day long instead of 
going to school as their parents had planned. 

The young people themselves hated their 
dreary lives. As they grew older, some of the 
boys became soldiers and some ran away to sea. 
Others married into Dutch families and became 
in their language and dress just like the people 
of Holland. This made the Pilgrims sad for 
although they had been badly treated in Eng¬ 
land, they thought of themselves as English 
and they wanted their children to speak the 
English language and keep to the English ways. 

William Brewster became a printer and pub¬ 
lished a number of books which exposed the 
faults of King James of England. Some of these 
books got back to England and made the King 
so angry that he sent his ambassador in Holland 
to hunt down the printer. The ambassador 
did not catch William Brewster, but he seized 
the man who had furnished Brewster money, and 
he took away the printing press. 


22 The Spirit of America 

All of these difficulties made the Pilgrims dis¬ 
contented in Holland and some of them decided 
to go to America. So about ten years after 
their last meeting at Scrooby they gathered 
again to plan a journey to a far country. This 
time, in Leyden, they met at the home of John 
Robinson, where they were in the habit of hold¬ 
ing their services. 

“Have you decided, my good people,” the 
minister asked, “to which part of America you 
wish to go?” 

“I think,” said John Carver, who had been 
to England to find out about the matter, “that 
we had better go to the northern part. In the 
south there are cruel Spaniards and savages who 
eat the flesh of white men.” 

“Couldwe notgo to Virginia?” someone asked. 

“That does not seem wise,” said John Robin¬ 
son. “The settlers of John Smith’s colony be¬ 
long to the Established Church and they would 
not welcome people who had separated from that 
church. We might be persecuted as we were 
in England.” 

There was much arguing about the matter; 
but it was finally decided that those who did 
not remain in Holland would go to the northern 
part of America, which they would call New 
England. 



© Underwood & Underwood 


Plymouth Rock 













Our Pilgrim Fathers 23 

The Voyage of the “Mayflower” 

Soon thirty-five of the Leyden Pilgrims started 
out in a boat named the Speedwell and sailed to 
Southampton, England. There they were joined 
by another boat called the Mayflower , which 
also carried emigrants to America. After a day 
or two at sea, a sailor rushed to the captain of 
the Speedwell , crying, “It leaks! It leaks!” 
Greatly alarmed, the captains of the two boats 
turned back to Dartmouth, the nearest port, 
repaired the leak, and started out again. After 
they had sailed a little way, the same cry rang 
out, and again the boats turned back, anchoring 
at Plymouth. 

Here they found the Speedwell was leaking so 
badly that it was decided to leave her behind. 
Twenty of her passengers, discouraged by the bad 
start, returned to their homes. The others took 
their baggage and boarded the Mayflower , which 
now carried twenty seamen and one hundred and 
two passengers. 

The most prominent among the passengers 
were Elder Brewster; John Carver, whom the 
Pilgrims elected their first governor before they 
landed in America; William Bradford, who be¬ 
came the second governor; Edward Winslow; 
and Captain Miles Standish, their military 


24 


The Spirit of America 

leader. John Robinson, to the great sorrow of 
his people, had not been able to come. 

At first the weather was fair; but when the 
ship was in mid-ocean, a terrible storm arose 
and strained the boat so badly that it bowed 
and cracked one of the main beams. Even 
Captain Jones and his sailors, who had weathered 
many storms, grew anxious. It seemed as if the 
Mayflower would go to the bottom. 

Happily there was on board a great iron screw 
which had been brought from Holland. With 
this the sailors were able to force the beam into 
place, and the Pilgrims proceeded on their way 
to America. 


Life in America 

After more than two months at sea, eighteen 
of the company landed in what is now the State 
of Massachusetts at a place which they called 
Plymouth, for the Plymouth in England from 
which they sailed. This landing was on De¬ 
cember 21, lfi20. All of the passengers spent 
Sunday, December 27, on board the Mayflower 
in Plymouth Harbor. You can imagine with 
what thankful hearts the wanderers listened to 
Elder Brewster, who was now their minister, as 
he prayed, read from the Bible, and preached. 


25 


Our Pilgrim Fathers 

The next day the men began felling trees and 
sawing huge logs with which to build their homes. 
The first dwelling they erected was a large com¬ 
mon house in which to care for the sick, store 
their provisions, and hold services. 

During the hard weeks which followed, many 
of the Pilgrims, since they were constantly 
exposed to the wind and wet, fell ill of colds and 
pneumonia. In January and February all but 
two were sick for a short period at least. At one 
time only Elder Brewster and Captain Miles 
Standish, with five others, were able to be about 
and look after the sick. 

They cut wood, built fires, cooked the food, 
made the beds, and cared for their patients as 
best they could. Night after night they stole 
out to bury the dead secretly so that the Indians 
would not realize how defenseless the colony 
was. 

“All this,” William Bradford tells us in his 
“History of Plymouth Plantation,” they did 
“willingly and cheerfully without any grudging 
in*ye least, showing herein their true love unto 
their friends and brethren.” 

One day in April, after most of the people 
who did not die had recovered, Governor Carver 
asked Miles Standish to have the drum sounded 
to summon all of the people to the Common 


26 


The Spirit of America 

House. Once more the Pilgrims were to have an 
important meeting to plan for the future. 

“In a few days,” said Governor Carver, “the 
good ship Mayflower sails back to England and 
Captain Jones is willing to take with him any 
who wish to go. Let those who do, speak now.” 

You must remember that there were only 
about fifty of them left. They were surrounded 
by savages who might at any time swoop down 
upon them. They had the poorest sort of homes, 
ragged clothing, and very little food. It hardly 
seemed as if they could survive another winter. 
But—wonder of wonders!—not one Pilgrim was 
willing to go back to England. They felt that 
God had spared them to found a free land and 
they were resolved to do it. 

There could be no braver people. To-day 
men and women all over the United States are 
proud to say that they are directly descended 
from the courageous men and women who 
founded Massachusetts. They call them “Our 
Pilgrim Fathers.” But, in one way, they are the 
Pilgrim fathers of us all, although our parents 
may not have been born in this country and we 
may have in our veins no drop of English blood. 
They have handed down to all American citizens 
a love of freedom and a determination to endure 
any hardship for the sake of freedom. 



William Penn Making His Treaty with the Indians 















William Penn 


27 


WILLIAM PENN 

We think of William Penn as a peace-loving 
Quaker who made a treaty with the Indians and 
founded the “city of brotherly love,” Philadel¬ 
phia. His treaty with the Indians was indeed a 
peace treaty. Under it the colony of Pennsyl¬ 
vania was spared much of the cruelty and bitter¬ 
ness of Indian warfare in the days before the 
Revolution. He was truly a great peacemaker. 

But Penn was first a great fighter for freedom. 
He was a student at Oxford University where 
he believed the Church of England interfered 
with his religious freedom. He refused to wear 
certain articles of dress which the Church re¬ 
quired Oxford students to wear. He even tore 
such dress from the backs of other students. 
This was the beginning of his fight for religious 
liberty for which he was more than once thrown 
into prison. He traveled in Switzerland, France, 
and Holland, teaching Quaker beliefs and then 
decided to go to America to establish a colony 
where all should enjoy entire freedom in religious 
matters. 

The King of England owed Penn a large sum 
of money, about $75,000. To settle this debt 
he gave to this fighting Quaker a large tract of 


28 


The Spirit of America 

land west of the Delaware River. The King 
demanded a small annual rental, however, two 
beaver skins and one-fifth of all gold and silver 
ore that might be discovered in the land. As 
no gold or silver was discovered, the King re¬ 
ceived only the two beaver skins. 

William Penn came to America to get the 
religious freedom for which he had fought in 
England, and for which he had spent months in 
prison. In the government which he gave the 
colony he made sure that the people’s rights 
should be safe. He set up a “frame of govern¬ 
ment” which the colony adopted. In it he gave 
the right to vote to all grown-up persons and 
was in this respect far in advance of all the other 
colonies. 

The “frame of government” also gave entire 
religious freedom to the Colony of Pennsylvania. 
The other colonies, especially those in New Eng¬ 
land, quarrelled about religious liberty in their 
early years. But the Quakers in Pennsylvania 
from the first allowed freedom to all who came. 

But Penn was not wholly happy. His enemies 
in England charged him with treason and so the 
new king, William III, took the colony away 
from him and added it to the Colony of New 
York. Again the Quaker fought for his rights 
and in one year won back his colony. He la- 


William Penn 


29 


bored with great zeal to improve the conditions 
of the Indians and the Negroes who were within 
his realm and brought great prosperity to his 
people. He was a very good governor, giving 
wise and useful laws to his people. 

During his last visit to the colony, lasting 
from 1699 to 1701, he gave his people a “ Charter 
of Privileges.” It was adopted by them in 
October, 1701, and was their constitution for 
almost one hundred years, that is, until they 
became part of the new United States of America 
during and after the Revolution. 

When Penn left for England in 1701 he ap¬ 
pointed an agent to take charge of the affairs of 
the colony. The agent was dishonest. He mis¬ 
managed and misruled, and piled up many un¬ 
just debts for his employer. So in 1708 Penn 
was thrown into Fleet Prison in London for 
debts which he did not honestly owe. Here in 
prison his health broke down. When he was 
released he was an invalid. He died in 1718. 

William Penn’s life was a constant fight 
against oppression. He suffered great hardships 
and great financial losses. He was successful 
in gaining for the people of the Colony of Penn¬ 
sylvania what he never gained for himself. 
While he lay in Fleet Prison because he would 
not pay an unjust debt, the colonists enjoyed 


30 


The Spirit of America 

complete freedom; they had peace with the 
Indians; and they were growing rich. 

We can say of William Penn that his life was 
a great blessing to others. He suffered for what 
he believed to be right. 


LORD BALTIMORE 

It was hard to leave their homes that bleak 
day in November, 1633. The three hundred 
men on board the Ark and the Dove looked very 
sober as the little ships put out to sea. 

“ Brother,” said Father Altham to Father 
White, “we shall probably never see merry Eng¬ 
land again. Behind us we leave relatives and 
friends. Before us are the perils of the sea and 
the hardships of the wilderness. Only for our 
religion would I undertake such a journey.” 

“Yes, it is for the sake of religion,” answered 
Father White. “This country is no longer 
merry England to people of our faith. We must 
go to the New World to find religious freedom.” 

Most of the men on board were Roman Catho¬ 
lics. In England they were fined, cast into 
loathsome prisons, and even tortured. They 
were not allowed to own a sword or a gun, to hold 
a public office, or, when dead, to be buried in the 


Lord Baltimore 


31 


parish churchyard. They were seeking a place 
where they could worship God in their own way. 

Several years before this, other Catholics, led 
by the first Lord Baltimore, had tried to start a 
colony in Newfoundland. There the winter was 
so severe that they were obliged to return to 
England. 

Lord Baltimore decided to try a warmer cli¬ 
mate and received from the King of England the 
promise of land north of Virginia. He died 
before he received the charters but the grant was 
transferred to his son, Cecil Calvert. 

This second Lord Baltimore invited Protes¬ 
tants as well as Catholics to join his company. 
For food, tools, and building materials to be used 
in the new country, he spent a million dollars of 
his own money. He himself was unable to go, 
but he sent his brothers Leonard and George to 
represent him. Leonard Calvert was made 
governor of the colony. 

After a voyage of over three months, the 
Dove and the Ark came to Point Comfort in 
Virginia. Here they rested for a few days, then 
sailed up Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the 
Potomac. On a small, wooded island they 
landed, planted a cross, and joined with Father 
White in praise to God for bringing them safely 
across the ocean. 


32 


The Spirit of America 

At the King’s request, they named the colony 
Maryland in honor of the Queen, Henrietta 
Maria. Their first settlement they called St. 
Mary’s. 

These men, unlike the settlers of Virginia, 
prospered from the beginning. They did not 
suffer for food, for they worked hard and made 
friends with the Indians. 

Before they built houses for themselves, they 
bought land of the red men and paid for it with 
axes, hoes, and pieces of cloth. They learned 
from the young braves how to get fish and game, 
and from the squaws how to bake “pone” and 
make succotash. So friendly were the two races 
that the Indians offered the white men one of 
their wigwams to use as a church. 

These settlers would not allow any one in their 
colony to be persecuted for religion. A man 
might have any belief he chose. Accordingly, 
people of all faiths began to flock to Maryland. 
Lord Baltimore lived to see his colonists very 
prosperous and very happy. 


JAMES OGLETHORPE 

General James Oglethorpe was a distin¬ 
guished English soldier. Tomochichi was an old 


James Oglethorpe 33 

Indian chief. They met on the banks of the 
Savannah River and became firm friends. 

One day Tomochichi gave the General a buffalo 
skin lined with eagles' feathers. 46 You English,” 
he said, “are as swift as the eagle to sail over the 
seas and as strong as the buffalo to fight your en¬ 
emies. These feathers are soft, and that means 
love. The skin is warm and that means protection. 
We ask you to love and protect our families.” 

Oglethorpe was pleased with this gif t and the kind 
words, for he wanted the Indians to be friendly to 
the new colony he was starting in America. 

Just a year before this meeting with Tomochi¬ 
chi, Oglethorpe had been in England. There he 
asked one day about a friend of his who had been 
put into prison for debt, and he was told that the 
man was dead. Surprised at this, he began to 
visit debtors' prisons to discover how the men 
were treated. 

He found that when a man could not pay what 
he owed, he was thrown into jail and kept there 
until his friends came to his rescue or he died. 
Many did die of hunger, disease, and the cruel 
treatment of the jailors. 

Oglethorpe was kind-hearted and energetic. 
He went to the English Parliament and said: 

“The men in our prisons would work if they had 
the chance. Many have fallen in debt through 


34 


The Spirit of America 

sickness. Let us pay their bills and send them 
to America 0 There they shall found a new colony 
and call it Georgia for our King George II." 

Parliament approved and voted money to help 
Oglethorpe carry out his plans. King George 
granted him land far to the south in this country. 
He wanted these new settlers to help the English¬ 
men in South Carolina against the Spaniards in 
Florida. 

In about a year Oglethorpe set sail with more 
than a hundred free debtors and their families. 
His first settlement he called Savannah. 

With Tomochichi and other Indian chiefs he 
made an agreement to buy part of their land 
at their own price. He realized that the natives, 
not the King of England, owned the land, and he 
treated them justly and kindly. As a result, he 
won from them love and respect as William Penn 
had from the Indians of Pennsylvania. 

The colony began to thrive. The debtors were 
glad of an opportunity to work and raised rice 
and indigo in large quantities. Yet they became 
dissatisfied and began to grumble about the man 
who had given them freedom and wealth. 

The trouble was that they did not like the way 
in which they were governed. Oglethorpe and 
his friends made all of the laws and some of them 
were very peculiar. 



The Liberty Bell Which Rang Out for Independence in 1776 









35 


Independence Bell 

They ruled that a man could not own more 
than a certain amount of land, because they did 
not want any rich or poor men in the colony. A 
woman, because she could not fight as a soldier, 
could not inherit land. No man could have rum 
in the colony and no one could own a slave. 

The people said, “Our climate is so hot that 
we need rum to drink, and we could make 
money by selling it to the West Indies. We 
ought to have slaves because Negroes can 
work in the heat better than we can.” 

They complained so much that Oglethorpe 
turned the province over to the King and let it 
be ruled by a governor whom the King appointed. 
He had done his work in freeing the debtors 
from their prison walls, bringing them across the 
ocean, and teaching them ways of peace and in¬ 
dustry. 

Georgia was one of the thirteen colonies which 
broke away from England and made the United 
States a free nation. 

INDEPENDENCE BELL 

There was tumult in the city, 

In the quaint old Quaker town, 

And the streets were rife with people 
Pacing restless up and down,— 


36 


The Spirit of America 

People gathering at corners. 

Where they whispered each to each, 

And the sweat stood on their temples 
With the earnestness of speech. 

As the bleak Atlantic currents 
Lash the wild Newfoundland shore. 

So they beat against the State-House, 

So they surged against the door; 

And the mingling of their voices 
Made a harmony profound. 

Till the quiet street of Chestnut 
Was all turbulent with sound. 

"Will they do it?” "Dare they do it?” 

"Who is speaking?” "What’s the news?” 
"What of Adams?” "What of Sherman?” 
"Oh, God grant they won’t refuse!” 

"Make some way there!” "Let me nearer!” 
"I am stifling!” "Stifle then! 

When a nation’s life’s at hazard, 

We’ve no time to think of men!” 

So they beat against the portal, 

Man and woman, maid and child; 

And the July sun in heaven 

On the scene looked down and smiled: 


37 


Independence Bell 

The same sun that saw the Spartan 
Shed his patriot blood in vain, 

Now beheld the soul of freedom, 

All unconquered, rise again. 

See! see! The dense crowd quivers 
Through all it's lengthy line, 

As the boy beside the portal 
Looks forth to give the sign! 

With his little hands uplifted, 

Breezes dallying with his hair. 

Hark! with deep, clear intonation. 
Breaks his young voice on the air. 

Hushed the people’s swelling murmur. 
List the boy’s exultant cry! 

“Ring!” he shouts, “Ring, grandpa. 
Ring! oh, ring for Liberty!” 

Quickly at the given signal 
The old bell-man lifts his hand, 

Forth he sends the good news, making 
Iron music through the land. 

How they shouted! What rejoicing! 
How the old bell shook the air, 

Till the clang of freedom ruffled 
The calmly gliding Delaware! 


38 The Spirit of America 

How the bonfires and the torches 
Lighted up the night’s repose, 

And from the flames, like fabled Phoenix, 
Our glorious Liberty arose! 

That old State-House bell is silent. 
Hushed is now its clamorous tongue; 

But the spirit it awakened 
Still is living—ever young; 

And when we greet the smiling sunlight 
On the Fourth of each July, 

We will ne’er forget the bell-man 
Who, betwixt the earth and sky, 

Rung out, loudly, “Independence”; 
Which, please God, shall never die! 

Author Unknown. 


PATRICK HENRY 

There was much excitement that December 
day, 1763, in the County of Hanover, Colony of 
Virginia. Men in great numbers were hastening 
to the old brick court-house, where an important 
case was to be tried. Conspicuous in the crowd 
were twenty dignified clergymen, who drove up, 
entered the building, and took their places on a 
long bench beside the judge. 

These gentlemen had a personal interest in the 



Independence Hall , Where the Declaration of Independence 
Was Signed 






Patrick Henry 39 

case for the day, which was known as the Par¬ 
sons’ Cause. For some time all the clergymen 
in Virginia had felt that they were not receiving 
as much salary as they should. They had ap¬ 
pealed to the King of England who had taken 
their part and had treated the people in a high¬ 
handed, disagreeable fashion. This made the 
Virginians so angry that they still refused to 
increase the parsons’ salaries. For that reason 
Mr. Maury, one of the clergy, was suing the 
people of Virginia; and it looked as if he were 
going to win. 

When the court opened, the room was filled; 
and many crowded around the doorway. Mr. 
Maury’s lawyer spoke first and proved that his 
client should have received three times as much 
as he had been paid. 

Then rose Patrick Henry, the lawyer for the 
people. His appearance was bad. His figure 
was awkward, and his clothes were coarse and ill- 
fitting. When he began to talk, his own father 
wished he would sit down and not try to make a 
speech. 

Some who had known him all his life thought 
to themselves: 

“What can you expect of Patrick Henry? He 
has always been shiftless.” 

They remembered how, as a boy, he had left 


40 


The Spirit of America 

the chores undone to go fishing. He had been 
willing to roam the woods, gun in hand, for hours, 
but he had grudged every minute spent on his 
lessons. They knew that he had failed at store¬ 
keeping and at farming, and had won little suc¬ 
cess as a lawyer. 

The twenty parsons on the long bench cast 
amused glances at each other as if to say, 

“We have nothing to fear from this ignorant 
fellow.” 

Then, as Henry talked, they noticed a change 
in his voice. It became loud and clear so that 
the people at the edge of the crowd could hear 
distinctly. All forgot that this man was homely 
and awkward, uneducated and poor. They 
thought only of what he was saying and strained 
forward to catch every word. 

Patrick Henry spoke boldly about King 
George of England. He declared that such a 
king, who disregarded the wishes of the people, 
was a tyrant and forfeited the obedience of his 
subjects. 

At this some one cried, “Treason!”; but no 
one stopped Henry and he went on to tell the 
clergymen their faults. He said they were sel¬ 
fish and grasping. They set a poor example to 
their people. Instead of feeding the hungry and 
clothing the naked, they would, if they could, 


Patrick Henry 41 

take the last cow from a widow and her orphaned 
children. 

The twenty clergymen on the long bench hung 
their heads with shame and stealthily slipped out 
into the courtyard. Patrick’s father, by this 
time, was weeping tears of joy over his son’s 
eloquence. Everyone felt that here was a great 
orator. 

When the speech was over, the people seized 
Henry and bore him on their shoulders to the 
courtyard. Then they carried him about in 
triumph. 

From that day his reputation was made. He 
gained friends and these friends brought him 
business. He gave up all his shiftless ways and 
earned a comfortable living for his family. Be¬ 
fore he died, he had become one of the great 
leaders of the country. 

He owed his success to his ability as an orator 
and his staunch, patriotic spirit. He believed 
that George the Third was a tyrant and he had 
the courage to say so. 

When the king refused to heed the complaints 
of the colonies, the legislature of Virginia met in 
St. John’s Church, in Richmond, to decide 
whether they would prepare for war. Some of 
the men thought that they ought to proceed 
prudently and cautiously, but not Patrick 


'42 


The Spirit of America 

Henry. He rose in his pew and made one of the 
greatest speeches in the history of our country. 
He ended by saying: 

“I know not what course others may take; but 
as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” 

The resolution to go to war passed the house 
by a large majority. Patrick Henry had voiced 
the spirit of a new nation—“Liberty or Death.” 

THE RENEGADE 

Breathes there the man with soul so dead. 
Who never to himself hath said, 

“This is my own, my native land!” 

Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned. 

As home his footsteps he hath turned 
From wandering on a foreign strand? 

If such there breathes, go, mark him well; 

For him no minstrel raptures swell. 

High though his titles, proud his name. 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim. 
Despite those titles, power and pelf. 

The wretch, concentered all in self, 

Living, shall forfeit fair renown. 

And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust from which he sprung. 
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. 

Sir Walter Scott. 


Nathan Hale 


43 


NATHAN HALE* 

To drum-beat and heart-beat, 

A soldier marches by: 

There is color in his cheek, 

There is courage in his eye, 

Yet to drum-beat and heart-beat 
In a moment he must die. 

By starlight and moonlight. 

He seeks the Briton’s camp; 

He hears the rustling flag, 

And the armed sentry’s tramp; 

And the starlight and moonlight 
His silent wanderings lamp. 

With slow tread and still tread. 

He scans the tented line; 

And he counts the battery guns 
By the gaunt and shadowy pine; 

And his slow tread and still tread 
Gives no warning sign. 

The dark wave, the plumbed wave, 
It meets his eager glance; 

And it sparkled ’neath the stars. 
Like the glimmer of a lance— 

A dark wave, a plumbed wave, 

On an emerald expanse. 


•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Henry Holt and Company. 



44 


The Spirit of America 

A sharp clang, a steel clang. 

And terror in the sound! 

For the sentry, falcon-eyed. 

In the camp a spy hath found; 

With a sharp clang, a steel clang. 

The patriot is bound. 

With calm brow, steady brow. 

He listens to his doom; 

In his look there is no fear. 

Nor a shadow-trace of gloom; 

But with calm brow and steady brow 
He robes him for the tomb. 

In the long night, the still night. 

He kneels upon the sod; 

And the brutal guards withhold 
E’en the solemn Word of God! 

In the long night, the still night. 

He walks where Christ hath trod. 


’Neath the blue morn, the sunny morn. 
He dies upon the tree; 

And he mourns that he can lose 
But one life for Liberty; 

And in the blue morn, the sunny mom. 
His spirit-wings are free. 


45 


Paul Revere's Ride 

But his last words, his message-words, 
They burn, lest friendly eye 
Should read how proud and calm 
A patriot could die, 

With his last words, his dying words, 

A soldier’s battle-cry. 

From the Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf 
From monument and urn, 

The sad of earth, the glad of heaven, 

His tragic fate shall learn; 

And on Fame-leaf and Angel-leaf 
The name of HALE shall burn. 

Francis Miles Finch. 


PAUL REVERE’S RIDE* 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; 

Hardly a man is now alive 

Who remembers that famous day and year. 

He said to his friend: “If the British march 
By land or sea from the town to-night, 

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 

Of the North Church tower as a signal light,— 


•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company. 



46 


The Spirit of America 

One, if by land, and two, if by sea; 

And I on the opposite shore will be. 

Ready to ride and spread the alarm 
Through every Middlesex village and farm. 

For the country folk to be up and to arm.” 

Then he said “Good-night,” and with muffled 
oar 

Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore. 

Just as the moon rose over the bay. 

Where swinging wide at her moorings lay 
The Somerset , British man-of-war; 

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar 
Across the moon like a prison bar. 

And a huge black hulk, that was magnified 
By its own reflection in the tide. 

Meanwhile his friend, through alley and street. 
Wanders and watches with eager ears. 

Till in the silence around him he hears 
The muster of men at the barrack-door. 

The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet. 

And the measured tread of the grenadiers 
Marching down to their boats on the shore. 

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North 
Church, 

By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread. 

To the belfry-chamber overhead, 


Paul Revere's Ride 


47 


And startled the pigeons from their perch 
On the somber rafters, that round him made 
Masses and moving shapes of shade,— 

By the trembling ladder, steep and tall. 

To the highest window in the wall. 

Where he paused to listen and look down 
A moment on the roofs of the town. 

And the moonlight flowing over all. 

Beneath, in the churchyard lay the dead. 

In their night-encampment on the hill, 

Wrapped in silence so deep and still 
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread, 

The watchful night-wind, as it went 
Creeping along from tent to tent. 

And seeming to whisper, 44 All is well!” 

A moment only he feels the spell 

Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread 

Of the lonely belfry and the dead; 

For suddenly all his thoughts are bent 
On a shadowy something far away, 

Where the river widens to meet the bay,— 

A line of black that bends and floats 
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats. 

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride 
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. 


48 The Spirit of America 

Now he patted his horse’s side, 

Now gazed at the landscape far and near. 

Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, 

And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; 

But mostly he watched with eager search 
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church, 

As it rose above the graves on the hill, 

Lonely and spectral and somber and still. 

And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height 
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! 

He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns. 
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 
A second lamp in the belfry burns. 

A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark. 
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; 
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and 
the light 

The fate of a nation was riding that night; 

And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight 
Kindled the land into flame with its heat. 

He has left the village and mounted the steep. 
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep 
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; 

And under the alders that skirt its edge. 


Paul Revere's Ride 


49 


Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, 

Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. 

It was twelve by the village clock 

When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. 

He heard the crowing of the cock, 

And the barking of the farmer’s dog. 

And felt the damp of the river’s fog 
That rises after the sun goes down. 

It was one by the village clock 
When he galloped into Lexington. 

He saw the gilded weather cock 
Swim in the moonlight as he passed. 

And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare. 
Gaze at him with a spectral glare. 

As if they already stood aghast 

At the bloody work they would look upon. 

It was two by the village clock 

When he came to the bridge in Concord town, 

He heard the bleating of the flock. 

And the twitter of birds among the trees. 

And felt the breath of the morning breeze 
Blowing over the meadows brown. 

And one was safe and asleep in his bed 
Who at the bridge would be first to fall, 

Who that day would be lying dead, 

Pierced by a British musket-ball. 


50 


The Spirit of America 

You know the rest. In the books you have read 
How the British regulars fired and fled,— 

How the farmers gave them ball for ball. 

From behind each fence and farmyard wall. 
Chasing the red-coats down the lane. 

Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
Under the trees at the turn of the road. 

And only pausing to fire and load. 

So through the night rode Paul Revere; 

And so through the night went his cry of alarm 
To every Middlesex village and farm, 

A cry of defiance, and not of fear, 

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door. 
And a word that shall echo for evermore! 

For, borne on the night-wind of the past. 
Through all our history to the last, 

In the hour of darkness, and peril and need. 

The people will waken and listen to hear 
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed. 

And the midnight message of Paul Revere. 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 

NATHAN HALE, PATRIOT 

American history holds the names of many 
brave men who did great deeds. Our soldiers 
are famous for daring acts. Our men have often 


51 


Nathan Hale , Patriot 

risked their lives in the service of their country 
and we have pleasure in honoring their names. 
Washington, and John Paul Jones, and Perry 
and Farragut, and Sheridan, and Pershing are a 
few in the long list of our heroes. They were 
fearless in the face of danger and won great vic¬ 
tories. 

Nathan Hale risked all he had, life and fortune 
and even reputation, to serve his country. He 
is now counted among our greatest patriots, 
although he was hanged as a spy. 

Nathan Hale graduated from Yale College 
before he was twenty and was a schoolmaster 
when the war for freedom began. The young 
patriot entered the army at once. His country’s 
call was answered by joining the first company 
organized in his town. He began as a private 
soldier but had become a captain in less than a 
year. His bravery won the love and trust of 
his men. He was cool, bold, and just, the kind 
of man who can do things under difficulties. 

In 1776 Washington’s army was defeated on 
Long Island by the British under General Howe, 
and again at White Plains. The American army 
was in danger. Washington wanted to know the 
plans of the British general. It was necessary 
to know these plans to save his twice-defeated 
army. So he called for volunteers to go into the 


52 


The Spirit of America 

British lines. This, the work of a spy, is now 
done by balloons, airplanes, as well as by spies, 
or by seizing prisoners who may know the 
general’s plans. But in the Revolutionary War 
the enemy’s plans could be found out only 
through spies, and to be caught as a spy was sure 
to bring death by hanging. 

Washington’s call for volunteers was answered 
by Captain Nathan Hale of the Connecticut 
Rangers. When he heard that the army could 
be saved only by finding out the enemy’s plans 
he said, ‘T will go. If the safety and success of 
the army make it necessary, the work will be 
honorable.” 

Captain Hale left Washington’s headquarters, 
traveled up the shore to Norwalk, then across 
Long Island Sound dressed as a schoolmaster. 
He entered the British lines, secured the desired 
plans, and began his return journey with the 
papers hidden under the loose inner soles of his 
shoes. But just as he was about to recross the 
Sound he was seized and carried to the head¬ 
quarters of General Howe. The papers were 
found and Captain Hale was sentenced to be 
hanged as a spy. 

It was a sad day for this brave soldier. He 
had served his country at great risk because of 
his great patriotism. But in the eyes of the 


The Man Who Would Not Be King 53 

enemy he was only a spy. His spirit was bold 
and calm to the end. Although the officer was 
very cruel to him, denying him the comforts due 
in such cases, Captain Hale met death with 
courage and good cheer, saying, “ I only regret 
that I have but one life to give for my country.” 

Nathan Hale was prepared when the call came 
to fight for freedom. Duty was the first law to 
him. He was proud to die for his country. He 
died as a patriot, bold toward the enemy, happy 
in giving his life that his countrymen might 
become free. 

THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT BE KING 

We Americans are very proud of our country. 
We are proud of her size, her wealth, her schools, 
but, most of all, of her form of government. We 
are glad that we live in a republic. We boast 
that we have no emperor or king to say to us, 
“You must do thus and thus, whether you want 
to or not.” Here, we, the people, make our 
own laws and choose the man who is to see that 
they are obeyed. 

But we might not have this privilege if it had 
not been for the man who refused to be king. 

When the colonies in America had broken 
away from England and had come out victorious 


54 


The Spirit of America 

from eight years of war, they had to start some 
form of government for themselves. Both 
France and England had kings at this time and 
some people here wanted the same kind of ruler. 
The man they wanted to crown King of the 
United States was George Washington. 

Now Washington had many qualities that 
would have made him a good king. He was 
well-born, well-mannered, and well-read. He 
had great physical strength, too. As a boy, he 
was so strong and vigorous that he could jump 
twenty feet and throw a stone two hundred feet 
above his head. He could manage the most 
difficult horses and took keen delight in riding 
after the hounds in the fox-hunt. He could out¬ 
distance any lad in Virginia at tramping through 
the wilderness or swimming in streams. 

As a man, he was more than six feet tall and 
finely proportioned. Always, in his own home, he 
rose at four o’clock in the morning to work in 
his library. He could accomplish an amazing 
amount of work because he had the physical en¬ 
durance which men need when they have great 
responsibility. 

Besides, Washington would have made a good 
king because he knew how to do things and how 
to manage other men. When he was only 
nineteen years old, he was made an adjutant 



George Washington , First Among Great 
Americans 







The Man Who Would Not Be King 55 

general of the militia in Virginia. When he was 
twenty-one, he was sent on an important errand 
by the Governor of Virginia. 

The French had settled on English soil along 
the banks of the Ohio River. Washington was 
to tell them politely but firmly that they must 
leave. He was also to make friends with the 
Indians so that they would side with the English 
against the French. 

He and seven companions traveled on pack- 
horses for a thousand miles across ice and snow, 
through swollen creeks and rivers, and in the 
midst of the dreary wilderness. But the French 
refused to give up their settlements until five 
years later. Then they were forced out by 
English soldiers commanded by Washington. 
By that time the young soldier had become a 
colonel, and had won the liking and respect of 
the people of Virginia. 

Later, in 1775, the American colonies felt that 
they must fight England in order to preserve 
their liberty. At that time not only Virginia, 
but New England said, “Here is a man who is 
brave, and sensible, and honest. He has shown 
that he is a good soldier and a strong leader. 
He puts the interests of his country before his 
own interests. Let us have George Washington 
at the head of the Continental Army.” 


56 


The Spirit of America 

So Congress appointed him Commander-in- 
chief of the Armies of the United Colonies. 
Washington accepted, not because he wished the 
position, but because he felt it was his duty. He 
refused to take any money for his services except 
what was necessary for his own expenses. 

Then followed eight of the hardest years that 
any man ever had to endure. The Continental 
Army was hardly half as large as the English 
force. The men were not well trained; they 
needed powder and guns, tents, food, clothing, 
and blankets. At one time, in the dead of win¬ 
ter, there were three thousand soldiers obliged to 
walk in the snow, barefooted. Their only food 
was cakes made of flour and water, with now and 
then a bit of meat. Yet these men, hungry 
and cold and sick, stood by Washington. They 
felt he was doing the best he could for them and 
that he believed with all his heart in the cause 
for which they were fighting. 

Not all of the people at home, though, realized 
what a hard time the army was having. They 
thought Washington too prudent and cautious 
and that he ought to end the war sooner. They 
talked bitterly about him and some even tried 
to have him removed from his position as 
Commander-in-chief. 

But in the midst of all, Washington remained 


57 


Washington's Rules of Conduct 

patient and courageous. When the right time 
came, he led the Continental forces to victory and 
liberty. 

Then it was that the people realized what they 
owed him, and some of them, especially his sol¬ 
diers, wanted to make him king. They felt 
that he deserved the honor and would never 
abuse his power. It was evident, too, that the 
states could not remain united unless there was 
a strong man at the head. But Washington 
realized that to put a king at the head of a 
nation would be to give up some of the freedom 
for which they had been fighting. The people 
themselves must rule their country. So he said: 
“If you have any regard for your country, con¬ 
cern for yourself, or respect for me, banish these 
thoughts from your mind, and never speak of the 
matter again.” 

By this refusal he showed that all his service 
had really been for the country and not for his 
own advancement. He proved himself the 
truest kind of patriot. 

WASHINGTON S RULES OF CONDUCT 

Washington was always a lover of good man¬ 
ners. When a boy he wrote in one of his exercise 
books one hundred and ten “Rules of Civility 


58 


The Spirit of America 

and Decent Behavior in Company and Conver¬ 
sation.” It is thought that he copied these rules 
from some book, or took them down from the lips 
of his mother or teacher. As a man, he was 
much admired for his dignity and perfect cour¬ 
tesy. Here are some of his rules: 

1. Every action in company ought to be with 
some sign of respect to those present. 

2. In the presence of others sing not to your¬ 
self with a humming noise, nor drum with your 
fingers or feet. 

3. Sleep not when others speak, sit not when 
others stand, speak not when you should hold 
your peace, walk not when others stop. 

4. Turn not your back to others, especially 
in speaking; jog not the table or desk on which 
another reads or writes; lean not on any one. 

5. Read no letters, books or papers in com¬ 
pany; but when there is necessity for doing it, 
you must ask leave; come not near the books or 
writings of any one so as to read them, unless 
desired, nor give your opinion of them unasked; 
also, look not nigh when another is writing a 
letter. 

6. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune 
of another though he were your enemy. 

7. When you meet with one of greater quality 
than yourself, stop and retire, especially if it be 






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Washington's Rules of Conduct 59 

at a door or any strait place, to give way for him 
to pass. 

8. Let your discourse with men of business be 
short and comprehensive. 

9. In writing, or speaking, give to every person 
his due title, according to his degree and the 
custom of the place. 

10. Wherein you reprove another, be unblame- 
able yourself. 

11. Use no reproachful language against any 
one, neither curse nor revile. 

12. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere 
about you to see if you be well decked, if your 
shoes fit well, if your stockings sit neatly, and 
clothes handsomely. 

13. Associate yourself with men of good qual¬ 
ity, if you esteem your own reputation, for it is 
better to be alone than in bad company. 

14. Think before you speak; pronounce not 
imperfectly nor bring out your words too hastily, 
but orderly and distinctly. 

15. When another speaks be attentive your¬ 
self, and disturb not the audience. If any hesi¬ 
tate in his words, help him not nor prompt him 
without being desired; interrupt him not, nor 
answer him, till his speech be ended. 

16. Be not curious to know the affairs of others, 
neither approach to those that speak in private. 


60 


The Spirit of America 

17. Undertake not what you cannot perform, 
but be careful to keep your promise. 

18. Speak not evil of the absent, for it is un¬ 
just. 

19. Make no show of taking great delight in 
your food; feed not with greediness; cut your 
bread with a knife; lean not on the table; neither 
find fault with what you eat. 

20. Labor to keep alive in your breast that 
little spark of celestial fire, called conscience. 

SELECTION FROM 
“THE BOSTON HYMN”* 

Read in the Music Hall, January 1, 1863 

God said, I am tired of kings, 

I suffer them no more; 

Up to my ear the morning brings 
The outrage of the poor. 

Think ye I made this ball 
A field of havoc and war. 

Where tyrants great and tyrants small 
Might harry the weak and poor? 

My angel,—his name is Freedom,— 

Choose him to be your king; 

•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company. 



The Man Who Believed in the People 61 

He shall cut pathways east and west 
And fend you with his wing. 

I will have never a noble, 

No lineage counted great; 

Fishers and choppers and ploughmen 
Shall constitute a state. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

THE MAN WHO BELIEVED IN THE 
PEOPLE 

Thomas Jefferson was another great man in 
the history of our nation. Like George Washing¬ 
ton and Patrick Henry, he was a son of Virginia. 
Like them, also, he urged that the colonies break 
away from England and establish a government 
of their own. He agreed that the best form of 
government to establish was a democracy. In 
fact, he believed so thoroughly in government 
by the people themselves that he has sometimes 
been called “The Father of American Democ¬ 
racy.” 

The people had confidence in his opinions 
and elected him to many important offices. As a 
young man, he was a member of the House of 
Burgesses in Virginia. There he did so well 
that he was sent to the Continental Congress at 


62 


The Spirit of America 

Philadelphia. Then he was called to one im¬ 
portant duty after another. He became Gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia, Ambassador to France, 
Secretary of State under President Washington, 
Vice-President and finally President of the 
United States for eight years. 

But all these honors and duties did not make 
him conceited. He said when he was an old 
man: 

“I have sometimes asked myself whether my 
country is better for my having lived at all. I do 
not know that it is. I have done some things; 
but they would have been done by others, some 
perhaps, a little better.” 

But there were three things for which he 
wished the people of the United States to re¬ 
member him and which he wished carved on his 
tombstone. 

The first was the authorship of the Declaration 
of Independence. He was the man who drew up 
this famous document in which the colonies de¬ 
clared themselves free of England. You can, if 
you go to Washington, see the very paper in 
Jefferson’s handwriting, with a few corrections 
made by his friends, Adams and Franklin. 

In the Declaration Jefferson says that all men 
are created free and equal. By that he means 
that every man is born with the right to earn an 


The Man Who Believed in the People 63 

honest living, to make the laws by which he shall 
be governed, to get an education, and to hold 
to whatever religion he chooses. 

Because he believed this, he hated slavery. 
Though he owned slaves himself, he would have 
liked to set them free and wished that the 
United States government would carry all the 
Negroes back to Africa. But the country as a 
whole was not ready to abolish slavery, and 
Jefferson had to content himself with other ways 
of securing liberty. 

His next great work was the passage of the 
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. When 
Jefferson was young, every person in Virginia was 
compelled to attend the Episcopal church. 
Catholics, Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, and 
Presbyterians were forbidden to hold services of 
their own. If they did so, they were arrested 
and fined. If they treated an Episcopal clergy¬ 
man with disrespect, they could be publicly 
whipped and required to ask pardon in church 
before all the people, for three successive Sun¬ 
days. A man might even, according to law, be 
burnt at the stake as punishment for his religious 
belief. 

All this Jefferson felt was unjust and cruel. 
He drew up a law which said that no man in 
Virginia should be compelled to attend church. 


64 


The Spirit of America 

or pay money to the church, or be made to suffer 
in any way because of his religion. For nine 
years he and his friends worked to get this bill 
passed. In 1786, ten years after the Declaration 
of Independence, they were successful. Vir¬ 
ginia was the first of the colonies to have real 
religious freedom made secure by law. 

Jefferson worked for education as well as for 
religion. He believed in the people but not in 
ignorant people. He saw that if boys and girls 
are to grow up to be good citizens, they must go 
to school and have good books to read. He tried 
to improve the common schools of Virginia and 
to establish a public library. It was a hard task, 
for many people did not realize how important 
schools are. Even if they were willing to edu¬ 
cate their own families, they were not interested 
in educating poor men’s children. But Jefferson 
persevered, and finally before his death, he 
founded a great school, the University of Vir¬ 
ginia. This was the third of his famous achieve¬ 
ments. 

The work that Jefferson started is being car¬ 
ried on. The people of the United States have 
followed his example in preserving liberty. 
To-day any man, who is a citizen, may have a 
share in the government, may have perfect 
religious freedom, and may get an education in 


Daniel Boone 


65 


the public schools. America is truly the land of 
the free, and every good citizen should be grate¬ 
ful to the man who believed in the people. 

DANIEL BOONE 

This great country of ours was new and 
young one hundred and fifty years ago. The 
settlers had cleared the land along the coast. 
The Indians troubled them less each year. The 
farmers raised good crops and all the people were 
happy. 

But beyond the mountains lay a large wilder¬ 
ness. Few men had yet been bold enough to go 
over the mountains to see for themselves. Wash¬ 
ington had been in western Pennsylvania. A 
few Frenchmen had explored the Valley of the 
Ohio and the Valley of the Mississippi. But the 
Indians were still hunting alone or fighting other 
Indians when Daniel Boone decided to visit the 
“dark and bloody ground.” 

That is the meaning of the name Kentucky. 
The wilderness was deep and lonely in Kentucky. 
Game was nowhere else so plentiful. Buffaloes 
ran in many herds. Deer were everywhere. 
Wild turkeys could be seen in flocks. Wild life 
was free there. “In this forest, the habitation 
of beasts of every kind natural to America, we 


66 


The Spirit of America 

practised hunting with great success/’ said 
Daniel Boone. And the Indians, too, went there 
to hunt rather than to live. 

Because Kentucky was a rich hunting ground 
it was not a safe home even for Indians. Many 
tribes hunted through its wilderness and many 
bloody battles were fought there. It was truly a 
“dark and bloody ground.” 

Daniel Boone wanted to open this wonderful 
country to the settlers on the coast. America 
must grow. There was not enough land between 
the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean for the 
great rich country that was to become the 
United States. And so Boone and a few brave 
and daring men crossed the Alleghany Moun¬ 
tains in North Carolina and entered the wilder¬ 
ness of Kentucky in the summer of 1769. 

In December Boone and one companion, being 
on a hunting trip, away from their camp, were 
captured by the Indians. But they were even 
more crafty than the Indians themselves and 
after a week of great danger both escaped. 
When they returned to camp it was deserted. 
All his companions had gone back to North 
Carolina. In the spring of 1770 Boone was left 
alone without even a dog, for his faithful dog was 
lost or carried off by the Indians. 

Here he was all alone in a pathless forest. 



Daniel Boone , the Hunter and Pioneer 











Daniel Boone 


67 


Indians were there, of course, and they were 
trying to capture him, probably to torture him 
to death. They did not want him on their 
hunting ground. Big trees were everywhere. 
The bushes and vines were dense, making it very 
hard to move about. Behind each tree and 
bush an Indian might be lurking. And Boone 
knew that the Indians were following him. He 
changed his camp almost every night and often 
found that his foes had visited his camp in his 
absence. At night the wolves and wild cats 
might attack him. The Indians were dangerous 
night and day. But for three months this great 
hunter lived alone. He outwitted the Indians 
by covering his tracks and by moving with 
greater speed than they did. He lived on wild 
game, cooked his food when it was safe to do so, 
and lived on berries when the wily Indian was 
too near. 

Other settlers braved the dangers of the wil¬ 
derness from time to time, but it was not until 
1775 that a permanent settlement was made. 
It was called Boonesborough. The village was 
fortified and Boone brought his family from 
North Carolina. Several other settlements were 
made by other pioneers, bringing the white man 
closer to the Indian and arousing his bitter oppo¬ 
sition. Bloody battles were fought between 


68 


The Spirit of America 

Indian and settler, and Daniel Boone was the 
leading spirit in every attack and in every stout 
defense. 

Boone was more than a match for the cunning 
Indian. In spite of the many battles between 
Indians and settlers, he hunted freely and even 
went far into the wilderness without any com¬ 
panions. His rifle and hunting knife were his 
best defense. With them he was able to outwit 
and outfight a dozen Indians. 

In the winter of 1778 he was once more taken 
prisoner. The Shawnee Indians, a hundred 
strong, took him when hunting alone. With a 
score of other captives Boone was taken to De¬ 
troit. There all were ransomed except Boone. 
He was taken into the Indian country for safe¬ 
keeping, perhaps for death by torture. An 
Indian council was called and it seemed as if he 
were to be burned at the stake. So great was 
their fear of his daring and cunning that they 
were afraid to keep him even as captive. 

Fortunately, a squaw who had lost a son in 
battle, took a liking to Boone and demanded him 
as an adopted son. This demand had to be 
granted by the laws of the Shawnees, and so 
Boone was adopted and became a Shawnee 
warrior. 

Indian adoption is painful. Boone endured 


Daniel Boone 


69 


terrible torture. His hair was pulled out of his 
scalp, leaving only the true Indian scalplock 
on top. Other trial was made of his ability 
to endure pain without flinching. In everything 
he showed that he had the courage and endurance 
of the Indian himself. He was even more skilled 
in woodcraft and in hunting than the young 
Indians. So he became a Shawnee warrior and 
enjoyed the confidence of the tribe. 

But he was carefully watched. When he 
went hunting alone he had to account for all the 
bullets. He was free to hunt and range the 
forest like other warriors, but he could not be 
away long alone. They were not quite certain 
that he would not try to escape though he was 
two hundred miles from the Kentucky settle¬ 
ment. And their care was well taken. This 
cunning hunter laid by bullets for use when the 
time would come to run for his freedom. The 
bullets so carefully counted were cut in two. 
In this way he saved good bullets and buried 
them for future use. He did the same with 
powder, using a small charge to bring down 
game and saving a little for the day of escape. 

One day he learned that these same Shawnees 
were planning an attack on Boonesborough to 
capture or massacre its people. He knew his 
wife and children were there and so he must 


70 


The Spirit of America 

warn them and save his own people. Here was 
the hardest task of his life. He knew the Indian 
language a little and understood all the plans 
as they were laid by the Shawnees. To them he 
spoke a mixed speech, letting them believe he 
did not understand their language. In this way 
he knew the day and the hour for the attack. 

Boone kept a calm manner until all was ready; 
then, with his supply of bullets and powder so 
cunningly stored, with dried venison for food, 
he took his usual hunting trip. But no sooner 
was he out of sight of the Indian village than he 
made all possible speed toward Boonesborough 
almost two hundred miles away through a path¬ 
less forest. In true Indian fashion he traveled, 
covering his tracks, and hiding all traces of his 
journey. He could not use his rifle for fear of 
being heard; he could cook no game for fear of 
letting them see the smoke of his fire. In this 
way he reached the Ohio River before his pur¬ 
suers overtook him. 

Good fortune awaited him at the Ohio. An 
old canoe lay there, a big hole in its bottom, but 
giving hope to Boone who was a poor swimmer. 
He knew how to close the hole and the canoe 
carried him safely across the swollen river into 
Kentucky. Here he cooked his first meal—of 
wild turkey which his rifle had brought down. 


Daniel Boone 


71 


His journey from here to Boonesborough was 
easier and he soon arrived at the settlement. 

Not a moment must be lost. The savages 
would be on them at any moment. His wife and 
children had returned to their home in North 
Carolina, believing him dead. The fort must 
be repaired; plans for defense must be laid. Here 
again the courage and skill of the hunter showed 
themselves. Boone and a party of settlers went 
forward to meet the savages. A surprise attack 
was successful and the Indians were driven back 
for the time. 

When the attack on Boonesborough was 
made, a month later, the settlers were ready, 
fifty strong, to defend the place against four 
hundred and fifty savages. Assault was followed 
by treachery and this was followed by an effort 
to undermine the fort. The case seemed hope¬ 
less. But in everything Boone was able to 
outwit the Indians. His men used their bullets 
very carefully, making each count. The little 
garrison lost only two men during the siege, while 
thirty-seven Indians were killed and many 
wounded. So the savages raised the siege and 
retreated, leaving their adopted son to his 
family and to Kentucky. 

This is only one example of the many dangers 
Daniel Boone met in opening the rich lands be- 


72 


The Spirit of America 

yond the Alleghany Mountains to the growing 
young America. Each fight with the Indians 
made the land a little safer for settlers, and many 
came. So many people moved into Kentucky 
that our great hunter longed for greater freedom. 
By 1802 he felt that the country was “too 
crowded ” and he wanted “ more elbow room ” 
as he said. 

So Boone moved west, following the retreating 
Indians. He settled finally beyond the Missis¬ 
sippi River where he could be by himself in the 
lovely new country. There he hunted and 
enjoyed the wild life until 1818 when he died at 
86 years of age. 

Daniel Boone was the greatest of all our Indian 
fighters. He was a man of great size, broad 
shoulders, strong, and wholly without fear. His 
life out in the open gave him the endurance of 
the Indian. His knowledge of the woods, of the 
ways of wild animals and of the Indian himself, 
made him a dangerous man for the Indian. His 
was the spirit of young America, pushing forward 
into the new West country. Restless, brave, 
strong, always facing westward, he was our great 
Pioneer. 


The Name of Old Glory 


73 


THE NAME OF OLD GLORY* 

Old Glory! say, who, 

By the ships and the crew. 

And the long, blended ranks of the gray and the 
blue. 

Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you 
bear 

With such pride everywhere 

As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air 

And leap out full-length, as we’re wanting you 
to? 

Who gave you that name, with the ring of the 
same. 

And the honor and fame so becoming to you?— 

Your stripes stroked in ripples of white and of 
red, 

With your stars at their glittering best over¬ 
head— 

By day or by night 

Their delightfulest light 

Laughing down from their little square heaven 
of blue! 

Who gave you the name of Old Glory?—say, 
who— 

WTho gave you the name of Old Glory? 


•From “The Lockerbie Book,” by James Whitcomb Riley, copyright, 1911. Used by 
special permission of the publishers. The Bobbs-Merrill Company. 



74 


The Spirit of America 

The old banner lifted , and faltering then 
In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again . 

Old Glory,—speak out!—we are asking about 
How you happened to “favor” a name, so to say. 
That sounds so familiar and careless and gay 
As we cheer it and shout in our wild breezy 
way— 

We—the crowd, every man of us, calling you 
that— 

We—Tom, Dick, and Harry—each swinging his 
hat 

And hurrahing “Old Glory!” like you were our 
kin. 

When—Lord!—we all know we’re as common as 
sin! 

And yet it just seems like you humor us all 
And waft us your thanks, as we hail you and fall 
Into line, with you over us, waving us on 
Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone. 
And this is the reason we’re wanting to know—* 
(And we’re wanting it so!— 

Where our own fathers went we are willing to go.) 
Who gave you the name of Old Glory—O-oh! 
Who gave you the name of Old Glory? 

The old flag unfurled with a billowy thrill 

For an instant , then wistfully sighed and was still. 



Boy Scouts with the Colors on Parade 














75 


The Name of Old Glory 

Old Glory; the story we’re wanting to hear 
Is what the plain facts of your christening were 
For your name—just to hear it. 

Repeat it, and cheer it, ’s a tang to the spirit 
As salt as a tear; 

And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by, 
There’s a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye 
And an aching to live for you always—or die, 

If, dying, we still keep you waving on high. 

And so, by our love 
For you, floating above, 

And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof, 
Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why 
Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? 

Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast , 
And fluttered an audible answer at last . 

And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said: 
“By the driven snow-white and the living blood- 
red 

Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead— 
By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast. 
As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast. 
Or droop o’er the sod where the long grasses nod. 
My name is as old as the glory of God. 

. . . So I came by the name of Old Glory.” 

James Whitcomb Riley. 


76 


The Spirit of America 


A STAR FOR EACH STATE 

The blue field in our flag, with white stars, is 
known as the union. Each star represents a 
state, each state is represented by a star, and the 
position of each star has been definitely deter¬ 
mined by executive order of President William 
Howard Taft, dated Oct. 26, 1912. 



The order says there shall be six horizontal 
rows of stars, eight stars in each row. The first 
star in the upper left-hand corner, next to the 
flag-staff, stands for Delaware, the first state 



The Story of (( The Star-Spangled Banner ” 77 

that ratified the Constitution. Then, running 
from left to right, the stars stand for the states 
in the order in which the states ratified the Con¬ 
stitution. Thus Delaware is the oldest state 
in the union and Arizona the youngest; Dela¬ 
ware is number one, Rhode Island number 
thirteen, Arizona number forty-eight. Which 
is your star? What number is it? 


THE STORY OF “THE STAR-SPANGLED 
BANNER”* 

It would take a large volume to contain all 
of the poetry inspired by the “flag of the free.” 
The high patriotism of the most gifted poets has 
found noble expression in songs to the flag. 
There are thrilling tales back of some of these 
songs and poems. They are associated with 
deeds of valor. Heroism has never run higher 
than in defense of the flag. It has floated above 
many a battlefield, but it is never more beautiful 
than when it waves in the breeze in time of 
peace. Thousands of men and women are to-day 
working to bring about a time when the flags 
of all nations will wave over all nations at peace 
with themselves and the world. The flag will 

♦Adapted from the St. Nicholas Magazine, by permission of the publishers, The Cen¬ 
tury Company. 



78 


The Spirit of America 

lose none of its meaning when that happy day 
arrives and war shall be no more. 

Of all the songs written to the flag, none has 
met with such high favor as 4 4 The Star-Spangled 
Banner.” It is now more than a century old, for 
in 1914 we celebrated the one hundredth an¬ 
niversary of its birth, and did honor to Francis 
Scott Key, who wrote it. 

If I were to ask all of the boys and girls when 
and where 44 The Star-Spangled Banner” was 
written, I suspect that there would not be any 
great show of hands. Perhaps there would not 
be any greater show of hands if I asked your 
fathers and mothers the question. 

The song was written in Baltimore and it was 
in this city that Francis Scott Key died, on the 
eleventh of January, in the year 1843. He was 
born in Frederick, Maryland, near Baltimore, 
in the year 1780. The poem that made his 
name immortal grew out of a stirring event in our 
national history, the bombardment of Fort 
McHenry, on the thirteenth of September, in 
the year 1814. The following history of the 
song appeared in the Baltimore American on 
the twenty-first day of September, in the year 
1814, when the poem was a week old. 

This song was composed under the following 
circumstances: A gentleman left Baltimore un- 


The Story of “The Star-Spangled Banner ” 79 

der a flag of truce, to secure from the British 
fleet the release of a friend of his who had been 
captured at Marlborough. He went as far as 
the mouth of the Patuxent, and was not per¬ 
mitted to return lest the intended attack upon 
Baltimore should be disclosed. He was there¬ 
fore brought up the mouth of the bay to the 
mouth of the Patapsco, where his flag-of-truce 
vessel was kept under the guns of a frigate (the 
Surprise) and was compelled to witness the 
bombardment of Fort McHenry, which the 
admiral had boasted he would carry in a few 
hours. The American watched the flag at the 
fort through the whole day, with anxiety that 
can better be felt than described, until darkness 
prevented him from seeing it. In the night he 
watched the bombshells, and at early dawn his 
eye was again greeted by the proudly waving 
flag of his country. 

The person referred to in this brief account of 
the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was 
Francis Scott Key, and the “friend” whose 
release he had sought was Doctor Beanes, a phy¬ 
sician of Marlborough. On the second day of 
September, Key had written this letter to his 
mother: 

“I am going in the morning to Baltimore, to proceed 
in a flag vessel to General Ross. Old Doctor Beanes, of 


80 


The Spirit of America 

Marlboro’, is taken prisoner by the enemy, who threaten 
to carry him off. I hope to return in about eight or ten 
days, though it is uncertain, as I do not know where to 
find the fleet.” 

This interesting note is still in existence. Doc¬ 
tor Beanes had been allowed to go with Key on 
board the Minden, and he and Mr. Key were on 
deck nearly all night, watching the bombard¬ 
ment of the fort, and wondering if they would 
see the stars and stripes when the morning 
dawned. It was this anxiety that caused Key 
to spend a sleepless night, and when daylight 
revealed the “flag of the free” still waving in 
the breeze, he drew forth an old letter from his 
pocket and wrote: 

O say, can you see by the dawn’s early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleam¬ 
ing?— 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous 
fight 

O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly 
streaming! 

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; 
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 

The song made an instant appeal to the people. 
It was printed in handbill form, and there was 


The Story of “ The Star-Spangled Banner ” 81 

an eager demand for copies of it. We are told 
that it was sung for the very first time in a little 
frame building, a coffee-house, standing next 
to a theater and then much frequented by 
players. A man named Ferdinand Durang 
mounted an old rush-bottomed chair and sang 
the song to the tune of “Anacreon in Heaven.” 
The others present joined lustily in the chorus, 
little thinking that what they were singing would 
be one of the nation’s most popular patriotic 
melodies a hundred years thereafter. The first 
time it was sung on any stage was at the Holiday 
Street Theater, in Baltimore, by Ferdinand 
Durang and his brother Charles; and it has gone 
on singing its way into the hearts of the people 
from that day until this. 

It is of interest to know that the star-spangled 
banner that inspired Francis Scott Key to write 
his immortal verses is still in existence and may 
be seen in the National Museum in Washington. 
It figured prominently in the Baltimore cen¬ 
tennial celebration held September 14, 1914. 
It was then taken to Baltimore, and escorted to 
Fort McHenry by the President of the United 
States, the Vice-President, and other men of 
distinction. At the fort, a facsimile of the flag 
was run up while a “human flag” composed of 
the school children of Baltimore sang “The 


82 


The Spirit of America 

Star-Spangled Banner.” A troop of one hun¬ 
dred picked men from the eighteen states which 
were in existence in the year 1814, were assem¬ 
bled in a special regiment, and known as “The 
Star-Spangled-Banner Legion.” 

The original star-spangled banner was about 
forty feet in length. For some years after the 
attack on Fort McHenry, it was used on special 
occasions. We are told that it adorned the war- 
tent of George Washington at Fort McHenry 
on the fourteenth of September, in the year 
1824, when a great reception was given to 
General Lafayette. 

The memory of Francis Scott Key has been 
honored in many ways. In the year 1874, 
James Lick, the California millionaire, moved by 
a wave of patriotic feeling, gave $150,000 toward 
a fund being raised for the building of a monu¬ 
ment to Key in San Francisco. There is also 
in Baltimore a very beautiful monument to his 
memory. And on the Mount Vernon Place 
Methodist Episcopal Church in that city is a 
tablet to Key, setting forth the fact that the 
church stands on the site of the house in which 
the poet died. 

Thus it is that we honor the memory of Fran¬ 
cis Scott Key, who gave us the noble lines that 
have quickened patriotism in the generations 



© Underwood & Underwood 

The Stars and Stripes Abroad: American Troops Parading in Paris on Bastile Day, July Ilf, 1919 












The Star-Spangled Banner 83 

that have come after him, and will continue to 
inspire it in generations yet unborn. 

J. L. Harbour. 


THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s 
last gleaming? 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through 
the perilous fight, 

O’er the ramparts we watched were so gal¬ 
lantly streaming; 

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting 
in air, 

Gave proof through the night that our flag was 
still there. 

Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 

O’er the land of the free and the home of the 
brave? 

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the 
deep, 

Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence 
reposes, 

What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering 
steep. 


84 The Spirit of America 

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half dis¬ 
closes? 

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first 
beam, 

In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream; 

’Tis the star-spangled banner; oh, long may it 
wave 

O’er the land of the free and the home of the 
brave. 

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and foul war’s 
desolation, 

Blest with victory and peace, may the Heav’n- 
rescued land 

Praise the Power that hath made and pre¬ 
served us a nation. 

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. 

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!” 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall 
wave 

O’er the land of the free and the home of the 
brave. 


Francis Scott Key. 


Old Flag 


85 


OLD FLAG 

What shall I say to you. Old Flag? 

You are so grand in every fold, 

So linked with mighty deeds of old, 

So steeped in blood where heroes fell. 

So torn and pierced by shot and shell. 

So calm, so still, so firm, so true. 

My throat swells at the sight of you, 

Old Flag. 

What of the men who lifted you. Old Flag, 
Upon the top of Bunker’s Hill, 

Who crushed the Briton’s cruel will, 

’Mid shock and roar and crash and scream, 
Who crossed the Delaware’s frozen stream. 
Who starved, who fought, who bled, who died. 
That you might float in glorious pride, 

Old Flag? 

Who of the women brave and true, Old Flag, 
Who, while the cannon thundered wild. 

Sent forth a husband, lover, child. 

Who labored in the field by day. 

Who, all the night long, knelt to pray. 

And thought that God great mercy gave. 

If only freely you might wave. 


Old Flag? 


86 


The Spirit of America 

What is your mission now. Old Flag? 

What but to set all people free, 

To rid the world of misery. 

To guard the right, avenge the wrong. 

And gather in one joyful throng 
Beneath your folds in close embrace 
All burdened ones of every race. 

Old Flag? 

Right nobly do you lead the way, Old Flag, 
Your stars shine out for liberty. 

Your white stripes stand for purity. 

Your crimson claims that courage high 
For Honor’s sake to fight and die. 

Lead on against the alien shore! 

We’ll follow you e’en to Death’s door. 

Old Flag! 
Hubbard Parker. 


TO ARMS 

Awake! arise, ye men of might! 

The glorious hour is nigh,— 

Your eagle pauses in his flight, 

And screams his battle-cry. 

From North to South, from East to West; 
Send back an answering cheer, 



The Stars and Stripes at Home: A Parade of American Soldiers Returned from the War 














































I 














% 





































J ■» 






































1 











































































♦ 









































«* 























To Arms 


87 


And say farewell to peace and rest. 

And banish doubt and fear. 

Arm! arm! your country bids you arm! 

Fling out your banners free— 

Let drum and trumpet sound alarm, 

O’er mountains, plain, and sea. 

March onward from th’ Atlantic shore. 

To Rio Grande’s tide— 

Fight as your fathers fought of yore! 

Die as your fathers died! 

Go! vindicate your country’s fame, 

Avenge your country’s wrong! 

The sons should own a deathless name. 

To whom such sires belong. 

The kindred of the noble dead 

As noble deeds should dare: 

The fields whereon their blood was shed 
A deeper stain must bear. 

To arms! to arms! ye men of might; 

Away from home, away! 

The first and foremost in the fight 
Are sure to win the day! 

Park Benjamin. 


88 


The Spirit of America 


OLD IRONSIDES* 

“Old Ironsides”was a nickname given to the Constitution, 
which for the years and nature of its service became the 
most famous of American war-vessels. It took part in 
many important engagements in the War with Tripoli and 
the Second War with Great Britain. The most famous of 
these was the fight with the English Guerriere , which was 
left totally disabled at the end of thirty minutes. In 
1830, when “Old Ironsides” proved unseaworthy and was 
ordered dismantled, Oliver Wendell Holmes, then a stu¬ 
dent at Harvard Law School, published this poem in the 
Boston Advertiser. It aroused so much feeling among the 
American people that the old boat was spared. 

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! 

Long has it waved on high. 

And many an eye has danced to see 
That banner in the sky; 

Beneath it rung the battle shout. 

And burst the cannon’s roar:— 

The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more. 

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood. 
Where knelt the vanquished foe. 

When winds were hurrying o’er the flood. 
And waves were white below, 


’Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Miffli n Company. 



89 


The New Hampshire School-Boy 

No more shall feel the victor’s tread, 

Or know the conquered knee;— 

The harpies of the shore shall pluck 
The eagle of the sea! 

Oh better that her shattered hulk 
Should sink beneath the wave; 

Her thunders shook the mighty deep. 

And there should be her grave; 

Nail to the mast her holy flag, 

Set every threadbare sail, 

And give her to the god of storms. 

The lightning and the gale! 

Oliver Wendell Holmes. 


THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOL-BOY* 
Daniel Webster 

I do not remember when or by whom I was 
taught to read; because I cannot and never could 
recollect a time when I could not read the Bible. 
I suppose I was taught by my mother, or by my 
elder sisters. My father seemed to have no 
higher object in the world than to educate his 
children, to the full extent of his very limited 

*From Hart’s “How our Grandfathers Lived.” Used by permission of and special ar¬ 
rangement with The Macmillan Company, publishers. 



90 


The Spirit of America 

ability. No means were within his reach, 
generally speaking, but the small town schools. 
These were kept by teachers, sufficiently in¬ 
different, in the several neighborhoods of the 
township, each a small part of the year. To 
these I was sent with the other children. 

When the school was in our neighborhood, it 
was easy to attend; when it removed to a more 
distant district I followed it, still living at home. 
While yet quite young, and in winter, I was sent 
daily two and a half or three miles to the school. 
When it removed still farther, my father some¬ 
times boarded me out, in a neighboring family, 
so that I could still be in the school. 

In these schools nothing was taught but read¬ 
ing and writing; and, as to these, the first I 
generally could perform better than the teacher, 
and the last a good master could hardly instruct 
me in; writing was so laborious, irksome, and 
repulsive an occupation to me always. My 
masters used to tell me that they feared, after 
all, my fingers were destined for the plough-tail. 

I must do myself the justice to say that, in 
those boyish days, there were two things I did 
dearly love: reading and playing. 

At a very early day, owing I believe mainly 
to the exertions of Mr. Thompson the lawyer, 
the clergyman, and my father, a very small 


91 


The New Hampshire School-Boy 

circulating library had been bought. I obtained 
some of these books, and read them. I remem¬ 
ber the 46 Spectator” among them. 

I was fond of poetry. By far the greater part 
of Dr. Watts’s Psalms and Hymns I could repeat 
from memory at ten or twelve years of age. I 
am sure that no other sacred poetry will ever 
appear to me so affecting and devout. 

I remember that my father brought home from 
some of the lower towns Pope’s “Essay on Man,” 
published in a sort of pamphlet. I took it, and 
very soon could repeat it, from beginning to end. 
We had so few books that to read them once or 
twice was nothing. We thought they were all 
to be got by heart. 

It so happened that within the few months 
during which I was at the Exeter Academy, 
Mr. Thacher, now judge of the Municipal Court 
of Boston, and Mr. Emery, the distinguished 
counsellor at Portland, were my instructors. I 
am proud to call them both masters. I believe 
I made tolerable progress in most branches which 
I attended to while in this school; but there 
was one thing I could not do. I could not 
make a declamation. I could not speak before 
the school. The kind, excellent Buckminster 
sought, especially, to persuade me to perform the 
exercise of declamation, like other boys, but I 


92 


The Spirit of America 

could not do it. Many a piece did I commit to 
memory, and recite and rehearse, in my own 
room, over and over again; yet when the day 
came, when the school collected to hear declama¬ 
tions, when my name was called, and I saw all 
eyes turned to my seat, I could not raise myself 
from it. Sometimes the instructors frowned, 
sometimes they smiled. Mr. Buckminster al¬ 
ways pressed, and entreated, most winningly, 
that I would venture; but I could never com¬ 
mand sufficient resolution. When the occasion 
was over, I went home and wept bitter tears of 
mortification. 

In February, 1797, my father carried me to 
the Rev. Samuel Wood’s, in Boscawen, and 
placed me under the tuition of that most benevo¬ 
lent and excellent man. It was but half a dozen 
miles from our own house. On the way to 
Mr. Wood’s, my father first intimated to me his 
intention of sending me to college. The very 
idea thrilled my whole frame. He said he then 
lived but for his children, and if I would do all 
I could for myself, he would do what he could 
for me. I remember that I was quite overcome, 
and my head grew dizzy. The thing appeared 
to me so high, and the expense and sacrifice it 
was to cost my father so great, I could only 
press his hands and shed tears. 


93 


The Youth of Lincoln 

Mr. Wood accomplished his promise, and I 
entered Dartmouth College, as a Freshman, 
August, 1797. At Boscawen, I had found an¬ 
other circulating library, and had read many of 
its volumes. I remember especially that I 
found “Don Quixote” in the common transla¬ 
tion. I began to read it, and it is literally true 
that I never closed my eyes till I had finished it; 
nor did I lay it down for five minutes; so great 
was the power of that extraordinary book on my 
imagination. 

Daniel Webster. 


THE YOUTH OF LINCOLN* 

He was long; he was strong; he was wiry. 
He was never sick, was always good-natured, 
never a bully, always a friend of the weak, the 
small, and the unprotected. He must have been 
a funny-looking boy. His skin was sallow, and 
his hair was black. He wore a linsey-woolsey 
shirt, buckskin breeches, a coonskin cap, and 
heavy “clumps” of shoes. He grew so fast 
that his breeches never came down to the tops 
of his shoes, and, instead of stockings, you could 
always see “twelve inches of shinbones,” sharp, 


♦From “The True Story of Abraham Lincoln” by Eldridge S. Brooks. Reprinted by 
permission of the publishers, Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company. 



94 


The Spirit of America 

blue, and narrow. He laughed much, was 
always ready to give and take jokes and hard 
knocks, had a squeaky, changing voice, a small 
head, big ears, and was always what Thackeray 
called “a gentle-man.” Such was Abraham 
Lincoln at fifteen. 

He was never cruel, mean, or unkind. His 
first composition was on cruelty to animals, 
written because he had tried to make the other 
boys stop “teasin’ tarrypins”—that is, catching 
turtles and putting hot coals on their backs just 
to make them move along lively. He had to 
work hard at home; for his father would not, and 
things needed to be attended to if “the place” 
was to be kept from dropping to pieces. 

He became a great reader. He read every 
book and newspaper he could get hold of, and 
if he came across anything in his reading that 
he wished to remember he would copy it on a 
shingle, because writing paper was scarce, and 
either learn it by heart or hide the shingle away 
until he could get some paper to copy it on. His 
father thought he read too much. “It will spile 
him for work,” he said. “He don’t do half 
enough about the place, as it is, now, and books 
and papers ain’t no good.” But Abraham, with 
all his reading, did more work than his father 
any day; his stepmother, too, took his side and 


95 


The Youth of Lincoln 

at last got her husband to let the boy read and 
study at home. “Abe was a good son to me,” 
she said, many, many years after, “and we took 
particular care when he was reading not to dis¬ 
turb him. We would just let him read on and on 
till he quit of his own accord.” 

The boy kept a sort of shingle scrap-book; 
he kept a paper scrap-book, too. Into these he 
would put whatever he cared to keep—poetry, 
history, funny sayings, fine passages. He had a 
scrap-book for his arithmetic “sums,” too, and 
one of these is still in existence with this boyish 
rhyme in a boyish scrawl, underneath one of his 
tables of weights and measures: 

Abraham Lincoln 
his hand and pen 
he will be good but 
god knows when. 

God did know when; and that boy, all uncon¬ 
sciously, was working toward the day when his 
hand and pen were to do more for humanity than 
any other hand or pen of modern times. 

Lamps and candles were almost unknown in 
his home, and Abraham, flat on his stomach, 
would often do his reading, writing, and cipher¬ 
ing in the firelight, as it flashed and flickered 
on the big hearth of his log-cabin home. An 


96 


The Spirit of America 

older cousin, John Hanks, who lived for a while 
with the Lincolns, says that when “Abe,” as he 
always called the great President, would come 
home, as a boy, from his work, he would go to 
the cupboard, take a piece of corn bread for his 
supper, sit down on a chair, stretch out his long 
legs until they were higher than his head—and 
read, and read, and read. “Abe and I,” said 
John Hanks, “worked barefoot; grubbed it, 
ploughed it, mowed and cradled it; ploughed corn, 
gathered corn, and shucked corn, and Abe 
read constantly whenever he could get a chance.” 

One day Abraham found that a man for whom 
he sometimes worked owned a copy of Weems’s 
“Life of Washington.” This was a famous 
book in its day. Abraham borrowed it at once. 
When he was not reading it, he put it away on 
a shelf—a clapboard resting on wooden pins. 
There was a big crack between the logs, behind 
the shelf, and one rainy day the “Life of Wash¬ 
ington” fell into the crack and was soaked almost 
into pulp. Old Mr. Crawford, from whom 
Abraham borrowed the book, was a cross, cranky, 
and sour old fellow, and when the boy told him 
of the accident he said Abraham must “work 
the book out.” 

The boy agreed, and the old farmer kept him 
so strictly to his promise that he made him “pull 


97 


The Youth of Lincoln 

fodder” for the cattle three days, as payment 
for the book.! And that is the way that Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln bought his first book. For he 
dried the copy of Weems’s “Life of Washington” 
and put it in his library. But what boy or girl 
of to-day would like to buy books at such a 
price? 

This was the boy-life of Abraham Lincoln. 
It was a life of poverty, privation, hard work, 
little play, and less money. The boy did not 
love work. But he worked. His father was 
rough and often harsh and hard to him, and what 
Abraham learned was by making the most of his 
spare time. He was inquisitive, active, and 
hardy, and, in his comfortless boyhood, he was 
learning lessons of self-denial, independence, 
pluck, shrewdness, kindness, and persistence. 

In the spring of 1830, there was another 
“moving time” for the Lincolns. The corn and 
the cattle, the farm and its hogs were all sold 
at public “vandoo,” or auction, at low figures; 
and with all their household goods on a big 
“ironed” wagon drawn by four oxen, the three 
related families of Hanks, Hall, and Lincoln, 
thirteen in all, pushed on through the mud and 
across rivers, high from the spring freshets, out 
of Indiana, into Illinois. 

Abraham held the “gad” and guided the oxen. 


98 


The Spirit of America 

He carried with him, also, a little stock of pins, 
needles, thread, and buttons. These he peddled 
along the way; and, at last, after fifteen days of 
slow travel, the emigrants came to the spot 
picked out for a home. This time it was on a 
small bluff on the north fork of the Sangamon 
River, ten miles west of the town of Decatur. 
The usual log house was built; the boys, with 
the oxen, “broke up,” or cleared, fifteen acres 
of land, and split enough rails to fence it in. 
Abraham could swing his broad-axe better than 
any man or boy in the West; at one stroke he 
could bury the axe-blade to the haft in a log, and 
he was already famous as an expert rail-splitter. 

By this time his people were settled in their 
new home, Abraham Lincoln was twenty-one. 
He was "of age”—he was a man! By the law 
of the land he was freed from his father’s control; 
he could shift for himself, and he determined to 
do so. This did not mean that he disliked his 
father. It simply meant that he had no inten¬ 
tion of following his father’s example. Thomas 
Lincoln had demanded all the work his son could 
do and all the wages he could earn, and Abraham 
felt that he could not have a fair chance to 
accomplish anything or get ahead in the world 
if he continued living with this shiftless, never- 
satisfied, do-nothing man. 


The Youth of Lincoln 99 

So he struck out for himself. In the summer 
of 1830, Abraham left home and “hired out” on his 
own account, wherever he could get a job in the 
new country into which he had come. In that 
region of big farms and no fences, these latter 
were needed, and Abraham Lincoln’s stalwart 
arm and well-swung axe came well into play, 
cutting up logs for fences. He was what was 
called in that western country a “rail-splitter.” 
Indeed, one of the first things he did when he 
struck out for himself was to split four hundred 
rails for every yard of “blue jeans” necessary 
to make him a pair of trousers. From which it 
will be seen that work was easier to get than 
clothes. 

He soon became as much of a favorite in Illi¬ 
nois as he had been in Indiana. Other work 
came to him, and, in 1831, he “hired out” with a 
man named Offutt to help sail a flat-boat down 
the Mississippi to New Orleans. Mr. Offutt had 
heard that “Abe” Lincoln was a good river-hand, 
strong, steady, honest, reliable, accustomed to 
boating, and that he had already made one trip 
down the river. So he engaged young Lincoln 
at what seemed to the young rail-splitter princely 
wages—fifty cents a day, and a third share in 
the sixty dollars which was to be divided among 
the three boatmen at the end of the trip. 


100 


The Spirit of America 

They built the flat-boat at a saw mill near a 
place called Sangamon town, “Abe” serving as 
cook of the camp while the boat was being built. 
Then, loading the craft with barrel-pork, hogs, 
and corn, they started on their voyage south. 
At a place called New Salem the flat-boat ran 
aground; but Lincoln’s ingenuity got it off. He 
rigged up a queer contrivance of his own inven¬ 
tion and lifted the boat off and over the obstruc¬ 
tion, while all New Salem stood on the bank, 
first to criticise and then to applaud. 

Just what this invention was I cannot explain. 
But if you ever go into the patent office at Wash¬ 
ington, ask to see Abraham Lincoln’s patent 
for transporting river boats over snags and 
shoals. The wooden model is there; for, so 
pleased was Lincoln with the success that he 
thought seriously of becoming an inventor, and 
his first design was the patent granted to him in 
1849, the idea for which grew out of this success¬ 
ful floating of Offutt’s flat-boat over the river 
snags at New Salem nineteen years before. 

Once again he visited New Orleans, returning 
home, as before, by steamboat. That voyage 
is remarkable, because it first opened young 
Lincoln’s eyes to the enormity of African slavery. 
Of course, he had seen slaves before; but the 
sight of a slave sale in the old market place of 


101 


The Youth of Lincoln 

New Orleans seems to have aroused his anger 
and given him an intense hatred of slave-holding. 
He, himself, declared, years after, that it was 
that visit to New Orleans that had set him so 
strongly against slavery. 

There is a story told by one of his companions 
that Lincoln looked for a while upon the dreadful 
scenes of the slave market and then, turning 
away, said excitedly, “Come away, boys! If I 
ever get a chance, some day, to hit that thing”— 
and he flung his long arm toward the dreadful 
auction block—“I’ll hit it hard.” 

Soon after he returned from his flat-boat trip 
to New Orleans he had an opportunity to show 
that he could not and would not stand what is 
termed “foul play.” The same Mr. Offutt 
who had hired Lincoln to be one of the flat-boat 
“boys,” gave him another opportunity for work. 
Offutt was what is called in the West a “hustler”; 
he had lots of “great ideas” and plans for making 
money; and, among his numerous enterprises, 
was one to open a country store and mill at 
New Salem—the very same village on the Sanga¬ 
mon where, by his “patent invention,” Lincoln 
had lifted the flat-boat off the snags. 

Mr. Offutt had taken a great fancy to Lincoln 
and offered him a place as clerk in the New Salem 
store. The young fellow jumped at the chance. 


102 


The Spirit of America 

It seemed to him quite an improvement on being 
a farm-hand, a flat-boat man, or a rail-splitter. 
It was, indeed, a step upward; for it gave him 
better opportunities for self-instruction and 
more chances for getting ahead. 

Offutt’s store was a favorite “loafing place” 
for the New Salem boys and young men. Among 
these, were some of the roughest fellows in the 
settlement. They were known as the “Clary 
Grove Boys,” and they were always ready for a 
fight, in which they would sometimes prove 
themselves to be bullies and tormentors. When, 
therefore, Offutt began to brag about his new 
clerk the Clary Grove Boys made fun at him; 
whereupon the storekeeper cried: “What’s that? 
You can throw him? Well, I reckon not. 
‘Abe’ Lincoln can out-run, out-walk, out-rassle, 
knock out, and throw down any man in Sanga¬ 
mon County.” This was too much for the Clary 
Grove Boys. They took up Offutt’s challenge, 
and, against “Abe,” set up, as their champion 
and “best man,” one Jack Armstrong. 

All this was done without Lincoln’s knowledge. 
He had no desire to get into a row with any one 
—least of all with the bullies who made up the 
Clary Grove Boys. 

“I won’t do it,” he said, when Offutt told him 
of the proposed wrestling match. “I never tus- 



The Lincoln Cabin 














The Youth of Lincoln 103 

sle and scuffle, and I will not, I don’t like this 
wooling and pulling.” 

“ Don’t let them call you a coward, c Abe/” 
said Offutt. 

Of course, you know what the end would be to 
such an affair. Nobody likes to be called a 
coward—especially when he knows he is not one. 
So, at last, Lincoln consented to “rassle” with 
Jack Armstrong. They met, with all the boys 
as spectators. They wrestled, and tugged, and 
clinched, but without result. Both young fel¬ 
lows were equally matched in strength. “It’s 
no use. Jack,” Lincoln at last declared. “Let’s 
quit. You can’t throw me, and I can’t throw 
you. That’s enough.” 

With that, all Jack’s backers began to cry 
“coward!” and urged on the champion to an¬ 
other tussle. Jack Armstrong was now deter¬ 
mined to win, by fair means or foul. He tried 
the latter, and, contrary to all rules of wrestling, 
began to kick and trip, while his supporters stood 
ready to help, if need be, by breaking in with a 
regular free fight. This “foul play” roused the 
lion in Lincoln. He hated unfairness, and at 
once resented it. He suddenly put forth his 
Samson-like strength, grabbed the champion of 
the Clary Grove Boys by the throat, and, lifting 
him from the ground, held him at arm’s length 


104 


The Spirit of America 

and shook him as a dog shakes a rat. Then he 
flung him to the ground, and, facing the amazed 
and yelling crowd, he cried: “You cowards! 
You know I don’t want to fight; but if you try 
any such games, I’ll tackle the whole lot of you. 
I’ve won the fight.” 

He had. From that day, no men in all that 
region dared to “tackle” young Lincoln, or to 
taunt him with cowardice. And Jack Arm¬ 
strong was his devoted friend and admirer. 

I have told you more, perhaps, of the famous 
fight than I ought—not because it was a fight, 
but because it gives you a glimpse of Abraham 
Lincoln’s character. He disliked rows; he was 
too kind-hearted and good-natured to wish to 
quarrel with any one; but he hated unfairness, 
and was enraged at anything like persecution or 
bullying. If you will look up Shakespeare’s 
play of “Hamlet” you will see that Lincoln was 
ready to act upon the advice that old Polonius 
gave to his son Laertes: 

“Beware 

Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in. 

Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee.” 

He became quite a man in that little com¬ 
munity. As a clerk he was obliging and strictly 
honest. He was the judge and the settler of 


105 


The Youth of Lincoln 

all disputes, and none thought of combating his 
decisions. He was the village peace-maker. 
He hated profanity, drunkenness, and unkind¬ 
ness to women. He was feared and respected 
by all, and even the Clary Grove Boys declared, 
at last, that he was “the cleverest feller that 
ever broke into the settlement.” 

All the time, too, he was trying to improve 
himself. He liked to sit around and talk and 
tell stories, just the same as ever; but he saw 
this was not the way to get on in the world. He 
worked, whenever he had the chance, outside 
of his store duties; and once, when trade was 
dull#and hands were short in the clearing, he 
“turned to” and split enough logs into rails to 
make a pen for a thousand hogs. 

When he was not at work he devoted himself 
to his books. He could “read, write, and ci¬ 
pher”—this was more education than most men 
about him possessed; but he hoped, some day, 
to go before the public; to do this, he knew he 
must speak and write correctly. He talked to 
the village schoolmaster, who advised him to 
study English grammar. 

“Well, if I had a grammar,” said Lincoln, 
“I’d begin now. Have you got one?” 

The schoolmaster had no grammar; but he 
told “Abe” of a man, six miles off, who owned 


106 


The Spirit of America 

one. Thereupon, Lincoln started upon the run 
to borrow that grammar. He brought it back 
so quickly that the schoolmaster was astonished. 
Then he set to work to learn the “rules 
and exceptions.” He studied that grammar, 
stretched full length on the store counter, or 
under a tree outside the store, or at night before 
a blazing fire of shavings in the cooper’s shop. 
And soon he had mastered it. He borrowed 
every book in New Salem; he made the school¬ 
master give him lessons in the store; he button¬ 
holed every stranger that came into the place 
“who looked as though he knew anything”; 
until, at last, everyone in New Salem was ready 
to echo Offutt’s boast that “Abe” Lincoln knew 
more than any man “in these United States.” 
One day, in the bottom of an old barrel of trash, 
he made a splendid “find.” It was two old law 
|books. He read and re-read them, got all the 
sense and argument out of their dry pages, 
blossomed into a debater, began to dream of 
being a lawyer, and became so skilled in seeing 
through and settling knotty questions that, 
once again. New Salem wondered at this clerk 
of Offutt’s, who was as long of head as of arms 
and legs, and declared that “‘Abe’ Lincoln could 
out-argue any ten men in the settlement.” 

In all the history of America there has been no 



Lincoln and Tad 









Three Lincoln Anecdotes 


107 


man who started lower and climbed higher than 
Abraham Lincoln, the backwoods boy. He 
never “slipped back.” He always kept going 
ahead. He broadened his mind, enlarged his 
outlook, and led his companions rather than let 
them lead him. He was jolly company, good- 
natured, kind-hearted, fond of jokes and stories 
and a good time generally; but he was the cham¬ 
pion of the weak, the friend of the friendless, as 
true a knight and as full of chivalry as any one 
of the heroes in armor of whom you read in 
“Ivanhoe” or “The Talisman.” He never 
cheated, never lied, never took an unfair advan¬ 
tage of any one; but he was ambitious, strong- 
willed, a bold fighter and a tough adversary—a 
fellow who would “never say die”; and who, 
therefore, succeeded. 

Eldridge S. Brooks. 


THREE LINCOLN ANECDOTES 
“It Occurs to Me That I Am Commander!” 

One winter’s night, Lincoln, coming out of his 
rooms at the Executive Mansion to make his 
usual round before retiring, noticed just outside 
the outer doors a frail-looking young soldier 


108 


The Spirit of America 

contending with the storm, which pitilessly 
scourged him with sleet. 

“Young man,” said Lincoln, opening the door, 
“you have a cold job to-night. Come inside and 
guard here.”* 

The soldier very properly insisted that he was 
posted outside the door by strict command and 
that he must not budge until further orders from 
the corporal or the corporal’s superior. 

“Hold on, there!” cried Lincoln, pleased at 
being supplied with his chance; “it occurs to me 
that I am commander-in-chief! and so, I order 
you to come inside!” 

Tad’s Solution 

The end of the Civil War pleased everybody. 
On April 11, 1865, President Lincoln spoke out 
of his study window to an immense and joyous 
crowd. There were rockets and a huge bonfire, 
and the President had just been serenaded. His 
impromptu speech was full of compassion and 
brotherly love. 

Mr. Harlan, who followed the chief, touched 
the major key: “What shall we do with the 
rebels ? ” To which the mob responded, hoarsely: 

“Hang them!” 

Lincoln’s little son, Tad, was in the room. 


Three Lincoln Anecdotes 109 

playing with the quills on the table where his 
father made his notes. He looked at his father, 
and said, as one whose intimacy made him fa¬ 
miliar with his inmost thoughts: 

“No, papa; not hang them—but hang on to 
them!” 

The President triumphantly repeated: 

“We must hang on to them! Tad’s got it!” 

One Way of Doing It 

It was during the “Black Hawk War,” in 
1831. Captain Lincoln was drilling his men, 
marching the twenty or so all abreast, when he 
found himself confronted by a narrow gap in a 
fence through which he must needs manoeuvre 
his little army. 

Said he: “I could not for the life of me remem¬ 
ber the proper words of command for getting my 
company endwise so that it could get through 
the gateway; so as we came near the passage, I 
shouted: 

“Company, halt! break ranks! you are dis¬ 
missed for two minutes. Then fall in again on 
the other side of the gap!” 


110 


The Spirit of America 


“BOOTS AND SADDLES”* 

It was December, 1864, and General Hood was 
making his mournful retreat from Nashville. 
General Forrest was ordered to protect this re¬ 
treat if possible and to hold the Federals in 
check while the Confederate forces escaped. 

This was immediately after the terrible defeat 
of the Confederates by General Thomas, which 
occurred on December 16th; and it was the utter 
desperation of the situation that had suggested 
a rear guard, which should play the part of 
Marshal Ney’s men in Napoleon’s famous flight 
from Moscow. 

During the bitter night of the 21st, General 
Forrest, with a small rear guard of infantry and 
cavalry, had crossed a little stream, Duck River, 
and camped on the Warfield place, about four 
miles distant from Columbia. Every movement 
of the Federal forces was closely watched, but in 
the morning it was discovered that by some 
manoeuvre a portion of the Federal command 
had succeeded in crossing the river also. 

A scout at once dashed up to General Forrest 
with this information. 

“What!” cried the general, angrily, “you have 

Reprinted from “On the Field of Honor” by permission of the publishers, the Sprague 
Publishing Co. 



Ill 


“ Boots and Saddles ” 

allowed the enemy to pass! Great heavens, then 
we are in for it! Quick, call a courier!” Turn¬ 
ing, he himself saw and hailed a young soldier, 
Preston Young, who was standing a short dis¬ 
tance away. 

“Here, boy, quick! Where’s your horse? 
Ride at once, and tell Armstrong to bring up his 
brigade in a gallop!” 

The boy’s face flushed with eagerness, his 
eyes flashed with full intelligence—he knew 
well the danger this order suggested, a possible 
encounter between the brave rear guard, only 
a handful of men, half frozen and half starved, 
and the Federal force of full sixty thousand men. 
He sprang to his horse, picketed near by, 
mounted and turned toward the tents. 

“Here, where are you going?” shouted General 
Forrest. 

“For my blanket, General,” answered the boy. 

“No time for blankets! To Armstrong at 
once, and don’t spare the horse!” 

With a respectful salute the young soldier was 
off like a flash. The day was bitterly cold, the 
turnpike was covered with sleet and ice, snow 
lay in deep drifts on every side, and the wind 
whistled and howled and cut like a knife as he 
rode in its face, never pausing nor drawing rein. 

It grew colder, and still colder. The suffering 


112 The Spirit of America 

of the poor fellow became almost unendurable. 
Friendly houses were passed here and there 
and the smoke curling from their chimneys spoke 
of warmth, a hot blaze, a hot meal, and kindly 
hearts. He was only a boy, and, until this terri¬ 
ble war, had been tenderly cared for; he was very 
thinly clad, and only a little threadbare jacket 
of gray, over a thinner shirt, covered his breast. 
Should he stop and warm his hands?—they were 
without gloves and almost frozen. Should he 
go in just for a moment to the warmth and 
glow of the fireside in the home he was passing? 
He was so terribly cold he could scarcely think— 
his very brain seemed to be freezing. 

But he rode on, the heart beating under the 
little gray jacket was true—it was loyal to the 
imposed duty. The general had refused him a 
moment to get his blanket; whatever the suffer¬ 
ing, he would obey orders and go forward. 

In a dazed way he was thinking of home; that 
it was almost Christmas; that—he wondered 
would he ever see home again. Then he swayed 
in his seat, bent forward over the saddle, and 
then, somehow saw his mother’s face and heard 
her voice: 

“Be brave, be true; do your duty whatever 
comes!” 

He could not speak to his horse now, but stuck 


“Boots and Saddles” 


113 


the point of the stirrup into his flank and has¬ 
tened forward. The last mile of the ride was 
almost over. In a few moments more he dashed 
into Armstrong’s camp, and the horse suddenly 
stopped. Half falling from the saddle, half 
lifted, the boy was carried to the general, who 
sat in a little cabin before a hot fire. But the 
young soldier was speechless; his lips, blue and 
drawn, would not frame a word. Anxiously 
those around looked into his glazed eyes, feeling 
that some momentous order was in his keeping. 
Suddenly, by a great effort, he cried out just 
three words: 

“Boots and Saddles!” 

This was understood. In an instant orderlies 
were dashing about, and men flying in every di¬ 
rection preparing for an immediate march. 

In half an hour they were ready, the young 
soldier had recovered, had given the order in 
full, and was again in the saddle, flying back to 
the scene of action. 

Armstrong’s men went at a gallop down the 
sleet-covered pike and joined Forrest in time. 
The noble rear guard did its duty and held the 
Federals back for six long days, while Hood’s 
army made the retreat from Nashville. 

Preston Young continued his faithful service 
to the “Cause” until the surrender of Forrest’s 


114 The Spirit of America 

command at Greenville, Alabama, in May, 1865. 
Then he returned to his old home in Memphis. 


ROBERT E. LEE 

No list of great Americans would be complete 
without the name of Robert Edward Lee, and 
his name would stand high on that roll. Some 
have lost sight of the true character of Lee 
because he commanded the armies of the Con¬ 
federacy during our Civil War. But in this he 
made an honest choice, so that to have done 
otherwise than he did do would have been wrong 
for him. 

Lee was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807, 
of a family which took the deepest sort of pride 
in its state, which loved its state with intense 
devotion, and which had had much to do with 
making Virginia great among her sister states. 
His father, Colonel Henry Lee, “Light-Horse 
Harry,” was a famous leader in the Revolu¬ 
tionary War, a “fiery soldier,” and a warm 
friend of Washington. “Light-Horse Harry” 
Lee died when his son Robert was only eleven 
years old, but he had lived long enough to develop 
in his son his same deep love for Virginia and 
the ambition to become a great soldier. 



Robert E. Lee , the General of the Confederacy 







115 


Robert E. Lee 

From 1825 to 1829 Robert E. Lee was a cadet 
at the United States Military Academy at 
West Point. After graduation he was stationed 
for a time at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, in 
the Engineer Corps. In 1831 he married Mary 
Custis, great-granddaughter of Martha Wash¬ 
ington, and through her came into control of 
the vast Arlington* estate, in Virginia near 
Washington. In those days this estate was one 
of many acres, buildings, and slaves. 

Before the Mexican War Lee was occupied 
with many of the projects the Engineers had to 
carry out. He settled a boundary dispute be¬ 
tween Ohio and Michigan; he had much to do 
with building the defenses around New York 
City; and he was most successful in his work 
to control the course of the Mississippi River. 

Lee entered the Mexican War a captain. 
For his services during the war, for his bravery 
and energy, he was made a major, then a lieuten¬ 
ant-colonel, and finally a colonel. The war 
over, he returned home a colonel of Engineers 
ready to take up again the building operations 
in which his branch of the army was and is 
constantly engaged. 

*The mansion is still standing and can easily be reached from the city of Washington. 
The estate is now owned by the United States Government which converted it into the 
National Cemetery where many of the soldiers and sailors of our flag find their last 
resting place. 



116 


Tlie Spirit of America 

In 1852 he was made superintendent of the 
United States Military Academy at West Point, 
from which he had graduated in 1829. Here 
Lee remained until 1855, when he was made 
lieutenant-colonel of a cavalry regiment which 
had just been organized. This appointment 
kept him in the Western States almost up to the 
outbreak of the Civil War, while his family 
remained at Arlington. 

A Great Decision 

During these years the war-clouds were gath¬ 
ering. Lee could see them coming, even though 
he was far away from the center of the ap¬ 
proaching storm, a storm that was to bring 
him much sorrow, privation, and sacrifice. 
Robert E. Lee did not believe in slavery; he had 
freed his own slaves before the Civil War. He 
did not believe that it would be wise for the 
Southern States to secede from the Union. 
He hoped the president (then President Bu¬ 
chanan) could restrain the hot-heads on both 
sides, so that love for country and the Union 
could be cultivated and peace and harmony 
between North and South restored. But these 
wiser counsels did not prevail. Our country 
was thrown into war, the Southern States with- 


Robert E. Lee 117 

drew from the Union, and among them was 
Virginia. 

In April, 1861, Robert E. Lee was offered the 
supreme command of the United States Army. 
Gen. Winfield Scott, one of the heroes of the 
Mexican War, did all he could to get Lee to 
accept this, the highest place in the army. Here 
was an opportunity to gain for himself the 
greatest honor, and Lee loved his country and 
his country’s flag, under which he had fought 
and served for so many years. But Virginia 
had withdrawn from the Union, and Lee could 
not set himself in the conflict that was so soon to 
break out against his home, his relatives, his 
friends, and his state. After days of prayerful 
thought he reached one of the greatest decisions 
of his life. On April 20, 1861, he resigned his 
commission in the United States Army, and 
retired to private life. In a letter to General 
Scott he wrote: “Save in defense of my native 
state, I never desire again to draw my sword.” 

A little while after this event Lee was placed 
in command of the military forces of his state 
and later, when the Confederacy was formed, 
he commanded the famous Army of Northern 
Virginia, eventually becoming commander-in¬ 
chief of the Confederate armies. 

The many campaigns during the Civil War 


118 


The Spirit of America 

conducted under his generalship need no expla¬ 
nation here. Your history will tell you all 
about them. Military authorities generally have 
given Lee high rank among the leaders of all 
history. As a soldier he was humane and kind, 
he observed all the rules of civilized warfare, he 
respected the rights of non-combatants (men not 
in the army, women, and children), and he never 
permitted the useless destruction of property. 

A Greater Decision 

After four years of terrible fighting General 
Lee at Appomattox made a greater decision, 
which showed the strength of his character. He 
saw that further struggle was useless, yet some 
of the leaders of the Confederacy wished to con¬ 
tinue the fight by withdrawing into the moun¬ 
tains. To surrender a great army in the face of 
this was a fearful responsibility, but Lee was 
unflinchingly brave again. He decided it was 
right to save further bloodshed by laying down 
his arms. And he took upon himself all of the 
responsibility for this act. So General Lee, the 
great soldier and leader, met General Grant, his 
determined and valiant opponent, in a little 
house near Appomattox where the terms of 
surrender were negotiated. Grant took no vie- 


Robert E . Lee 


119 


tor’s advantage, but in a large-hearted spirit 
gave Lee every assistance toward restoring the 
Confederate soldiers to their homes. General 
Grant took General Lee’s parole (promise not 
to fight against the United States) and that of 
his men. In after years Grant forced the Gov¬ 
ernment to respect the terms he had made, 
when, after President Lincoln’s assassination, 
some people desired to punish the Confederate 
soldiers. 

General Morris Schaff, a Federal officer pres¬ 
ent at the surrender, said of Lee: 

It is easy to see why Lee has become the embodiment of 
one of the world’s ideals, that of the soldier, the Christian, 
and the gentleman. And from the bottom of my heart 
I thank Heaven . . . for the comfort of having a 

character like Lee’s to look at. 

After bidding his army an affectionate fare¬ 
well, General Lee returned to Richmond. When 
he arrived there and entered his own home, 
his people saw him for the last time in his 
uniform. 

Having lost nearly all of his possessions, Lee 
was now confronted with the necessity of making 
a living for himself and his family. Offers of aid 
came from England, and from the North came 
offers of position, but he declined all of these. 


120 


The Spirit of America 

As he said: “I have led the young men of the 
South in battle. I must now teach their sons 
to discharge their duties in life.” 

In August, 1865, he was offered the presidency 
of Washington College, now Washington and 
Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia. This 
was the sort of opportunity he wanted, because 
it gave him a chance to help educate the young 
men of his state, and to help restore the country 
to something near its previous condition. In 
September he mounted Traveller, his famous 
horse, and rode the more than one hundred miles 
to Lexington to take up his new duties. Here 
he spent the next and last five years of his life, 
patiently working to restore the ruined people 
and country. As the result of his work many 
gifts came to the college, the number of students 
increased, and good effects were seen all over 
the state. 

On October 12, 1870, after a few weeks of ill¬ 
ness, Lee laid down his task forever. People 
North and South united to pay him homage. 
A great American had lived, labored, and 
passed on. 

Theodore Roosevelt once said: 

Lee will undoubtedly rank as without any exception 
the greatest of all the great captains that the English- 
speaking people have brought forth. 


121 


A Nation’s Strength 

One of the finest tributes to Lee, the Ameri¬ 
can, was published at the time of his death in 
a New York newspaper, in which it was said: 

. . . Robert Edward Lee was an American, and 

the great nation which gave him birth would be to-day 
unworthy of such a son if she regarded him lightly. 

Never had mother nobler son. In him the military 
genius of America developed to a greater extent than ever 
before. In him all that was pure in mind and purpose 
found lodgment. ... * 

•New York Herald . 


A NATION’S STRENGTH* 

Not gold, but only man can make 
A people great and strong. 

Men who, for truth and honor’s sake. 
Stand fast and suffer long. 

Brave men who work while others sleep. 
Who dare while others fly— 

They build a nation’s pillars deep 
And lift them to the sky. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 


•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company. 




122 


The Spirit of America 


SHOULDER TO SHOULDER* 

Shoulder to shoulder! Each man in his place! 

Shoulder to shoulder, and “right about! face!” 

We’ve a duty to do ere we grow a day older. 

And the way we can do it is—shoulder to 
shoulder! 

Shoulder to shoulder! Each man in the line! 

Shoulder to shoulder! The Flag for a sign! 

Yes, let us not weaken, but let us grow bolder, 

And rally and sally with—“shoulder to 
shoulder!” 

Shoulder to shoulder! Each man in his might! 

Shoulder to shoulder! We fight for the right! 

The land of our love—may our courage enfold 
her! 

May we work—and not shirk—for her, shoulder 
to shoulder! 

Clinton Scollard. 


•Reprinted from “ Fifes and Drums ” by permission of The Vigilantes. 




Shoulder to Shoulder: The '77th Division Passing the Cathedral in New York 

































The Voice of Duty 


123 


THE VOICE OF DUTY* 

In an age of fops and toys, 

Wanting wisdom, void of right, 

Who shall nerve heroic boys 
To hazard all in Freedom’s fight? 

So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 

So near to God is man. 

When Duty whispers low, “Thou must,” 
The youth replies, “I can.” 

_ Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

^Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton M ifflin Company. 


THE VOLUNTEER* 

Unconquered by the thought of death 
Or wounds that ache and bleed. 

His veins are filled with throbbing fire 
In the vast hour of need. 

No selfish caution binds his hands. 

Or chains his eager feet— 

“On to the front!” his watchword is, 
Through triumph or defeat. 

*From Scribner’s Magazine; copyright, 1916, by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Reprinted 
by permission of the author and of the publishers. 




124 


The Spirit of America 

A nation has the mighty power 
His inmost soul to stir— 

He does not deem it sacrifice 
To give himself for her. 

William Hamilton Haynes. 


MY COUNTRY 

From sea to sea my country lies 
Beneath the splendor of the skies. 

Far reach its plains, its hills are high. 

Its mountains look up to the sky. 

Its lakes are clear as crystal bright. 

Its rivers sweep through vale and height. 

America, my native land, 

To thee I give my heart and hand. 

God in His might chose thee to be 
The country of the noble free! 

Marie Zetterberg.. 


The Red Cross Mother 


125 


THE RED CROSS MOTHER 
Clara Barton 

Every boy and girl in America, old enough to 
read this book, knows the sign of the Red Cross. 
You see it as you come to school in the morning, 
pinned in the window of some rich man’s home 
or tacked to the rickety cart of the apple-woman 
on the corner. You know that it stands in 
this country for that great organization, the 
American Red Cross, which is pledged to relieve 
the suffering caused by war, fire, famine, or any 
other national disaster. For this reason, you 
know, *all good citizens, old and young, rich and 
poor, honor this symbol. 

Not many of you, however, can remember the 
woman who started the work of the Red Cross 
in America. Her name was Clara Barton. Her 
birthplace was Oxford, Massachusetts, and she 
was born on Christmas Day, in the year 1821 . 

She had two big brothers and two older sisters, 
each of whom took delight in playing with the 
little “Christmas baby” and teaching her as 
she grew older. Soon she began to develop 
traits which were to become very prominent in 
her womanhood. 

She was, we are told, always active and in- 


126 The Spirit of America 

dustrious. Very quickly she learned to read 
and write, to sew and cook, and to care for the 
chickens and turkeys her brothers raised. When 
she was tiny, her brother David, who was known 
as the Buffalo Bill of the neighborhood, taught 
her to ride a colt; and when she was five she 
could ride wild horses like a little Mexican. 
This took courage, for Clara was not naturally 
brave. All through her life she was subject to 
bashfulness and to tormenting fears of various 
sorts; but always she overcame her fears for the 
sake of other people. 

She was a patriotic child. From her father, 
Stephen Barton, who had fought under “Mad 
Anthony Wayne” in the Revolutionary War, 
she heard many stories of obstacles overcome 
and hardships endured in the early history of the 
country. From him she acquired an enduring 
love of country and a pride in these great United 
States. 

When she was eleven, she had her first ex¬ 
perience as a nurse. Her brother, David, as 
the result of a bad accident, became an invalid; 
and for two years little Clara cared for him, 
leaving him in all that time for only one half day. 
During those years she showed the skill, the 
patience, and persistency which were destined to 
make her the most beloved nurse in America. 


The Red Cross Mother 127 

After David’s recovery she looked about to 
find some new work and finally decided to be¬ 
come a teacher. Though only fifteen, she “put 
down her skirts and put up her hair” and took 
charge of forty pupils in a little schoolhouse 
near her home. There she was so jolly and 
human that all the boys and girls tried to please 
her, though they had been very disagreeable to 
the teacher who had been there before. For 
eighteen years from that time Clara Barton 
taught school, stopping only once for a year’s 
study at a seminary in New York. 

One of her old pupils writes of her: “She was 
kind to her students, pleasant in her work, gentle 
in disposition, and took an interest in us all. 
We loved her almost as much as we loved our 
mothers, and it was not without pangs of regret 
that we saw her give up her pupils and school 
work on account of failing health. She taught 
school for several years in Bordentown (New 
Jersey) and showed her charitable spirit by 
giving up her private school to establish the 
first public school in the state. I don’t think 
she ever had a pupil who did not love her.” 

As a result of continuous teaching Miss Bar¬ 
ton’s voice gave out and she was obliged to find 
a new means of livelihood. Soon she secured a 
responsible position in the Patent Office in 


128 


The Spirit of America 

Washington. There, as in all the work she 
ever did, she won respect by her thoroughness 
and honesty; but she did not remain there long, 
for she was destined to do a far greater work for 
her country. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War she became 
the leader of the women who volunteered to care 
for wounded soldiers. The first needy men to 
come to Washington were from Massachusetts, 
her own state; and we can imagine the eagerness 
with which she heated water, tore up sheets for 
towels and bandages, or read from the home 
paper, the Worcester Spy, to the soldiers gath¬ 
ered in the Senate Chamber. Later, through 
the columns of this paper, she asked the people 
of Massachusetts to send money and clothes 
for the sick and destitute. So much was sent in 
response to her appeal that she had to hire a 
warehouse from which to distribute supplies for 
the volunteer nurses. In a few months the 
work had become so heavy that she resigned her 
position in the Patent Office and devoted all 
of her time to the soldiers. 

As she worked, she found that many men 
suffered unduly and died because their wounds 
did not receive attention soon enough. She 
pondered how this situation could be remedied 
and finally decided that she herself must go to 


The Red Cross Mother 


129 


the firing-line and care for the wounded right 
on the field of battle. 

For a woman to do this was unheard of; and 
not only was it against all tradition, but there 
were strict army rules forbidding such a pro¬ 
ceeding. Yet this brave nurse persisted until, 
after many refusals, she received from the proper 
authorities permission to go to the front. Her 
first experience was at the battlefield of Cedar 
Mountain, where she worked five days and five 
nights with only three hours of sleep, and nar¬ 
rowly escaped capture. From this time till 
the end of the war she went on her errands of 
mercy from one battlefield to another. 

Much of her own money and all of her energy 
and skill went into the work. It seemed that 
she found opportunity to use everything she had 
ever learned. At Antietam, for instance, a 
dying soldier asked for a custard pie—to remind 
him of home. Miss Barton forthwith went to 
the crude camp kitchen and made just the kind 
of pie the poor lad wanted—“one crinkly at the 
edges, and having the marks of finger-prints.” 

Always amid the rough scenes through which 
she passed she was able to win the respect and 
protection of the men with whom she worked. 
Once she was obliged to accompany and super¬ 
intend a mule army-train driven by ten rough 


130 


The Spirit of America 

stout men who resented being under the direction 
of a woman. Miss Barton said of her first night 
on that trip: 

“While they were busy with their animals, 
with the aid of my ambulance driver, a fire was 
kindled (these were the days when fence rails 
suffered), and I prepared a supper, which I now 
think would grace a well-spread table. But as 
I had no table, I spread my cloth upon the 
ground, poured the coffee, and sent my driver 
to call the men to supper. 

“They came, a little slowly, and not all at 
once, but as I cordially assigned each to his 
place, I took my seat with them and ate and 
chatted as if nothing had happened. 

“They were not talkative, but respectful, ate 
well, and when through, retreated in better 
order than they came. 

“I washed my dishes and was spending the 
last few moments by the broad bed of coals, for 
it was chilly, when I saw this whole body of 
men emerge from the darkness and come toward 
me. 

“As they approached I received them gra¬ 
ciously, and invited them all to sit by the 
fire. . . . 

“‘No thank you,’ George (the spokesman) 
replied, ‘we didn’t come to warm us, we are 



© Underwood & Underwood 

Clara Barton , the Red Cross Mother 










The Red Cross Mother 


131 


used to the cold. But, 5 he went on slowly, as 
if it were a little hard to say, ‘but we come to tell 
you we are ashamed of ourselves.’ . . . 

“‘The truth is, in the first place we didn’t 
want to come. . . . We never seen a train 

under charge of a woman before and we couldn’t 
understand it, and we didn’t like it, and we 
thought we’d break it up, and we’ve been mean 
and contrary all day, and said a good many hard 
things and you’ve treated us like gentlemen. 

“‘We hadn’t no right to expect that supper 
from you, a better meal than we’ve had in two 
years. And you’ve been as polite to us as if 
we’d been the general and his staff, and it makes 
us ashamed, and we’ve come to ask your for¬ 
giveness. We sha’n’t trouble you no more.’ . . . 

“I had cooked my last meal for my drivers. 
These men remained with me six months through 
frost and snow and march and camp and battle; 
and nursed the sick, dressed the wounded, 
soothed the dying, and buried the dead; and, if 
possible, grew kinder and gentler every day.” 

Upon the close of the war Miss Barton found 
new work for the Government. At President 
Lincoln’s request, she began to search for 80,000 
missing men. These were the soldiers, who, for 
all the Government knew, might be alive and 
free, might have been taken prisoner, or might 


132 The Spirit of America 

be among the “unknown dead.” For four years 
she carried on the work, seeking information, 
marking unknown graves, and answering the 
letters of distracted wives, children, and parents. 

After this service, she agreed to give three 
hundred lectures on the war. Thousands of 
people thronged to hear the brave nurse who had 
seen so much of the great struggle, and the lec¬ 
tures were a great success until Miss Barton’s 
voice gave out and she was persuaded to go to 
Europe to regain her health. 

She went to Switzerland. There she found 
the Red Cross organized and was asked why 
the United States would not sign the Geneva 
Convention providing for the care of sick and 
wounded soldiers. To this treaty all other 
civilized nations in the world had agreed. Miss 
Barton answered that she did not think the 
people of her country understood the importance 
of the treaty, and that she herself would do 
all in her power to bring the matter before them. 

Soon after she made this promise, she had an 
opportunity to observe the work of the Red 
Cross on the Franco-Prussian battlefields. She 
said: “I saw no mistakes, no needless suffering, 
no waste, no confusion, but order, plenty, clean¬ 
liness, and comfort wherever that little flag 
made its way—a whole continent marshalled 


The Red Cross Mother 


133 


under the banner of the Red Cross. As I saw 
all this and joined and worked in it, you will not 
wonder that I said to myself: If I live to return 
to my country, I will try to make my people 
understand the Red Cross and that treaty.”’ 

Hard work on the battlefield and among the 
“war-torn poor” of Europe so sapped Miss 
Barton’s strength that she had a severe illness 
which prevented her return to America for sev¬ 
eral years. As soon as she could, however, she 
began her work of telling the public about the 
Red Cross movement. The chief objection to 
the work, she found, was that Americans were 
not interested in planning for the wounded 
because they did not expect to have another war. 
Then she suggested that the work of the Red 
Cross in America be extended to relief in time of 
earthquake, flood, fire, plague, or any national 
disaster. 

Finally, after years of hard work she won the 
help of the American people, secured President 
Arthur’s signature to the Geneva Convention, 
and, soon after, its ratification by the Senate. In 
the spring of 1882 she became the first president 
of the American Red Cross. 

For twenty-five years then, she labored for 
this organization, directing the relief work in 
nineteen national disasters, like the Mississippi 


134 


The Spirit of America 

River floods, the Texas famine, the Johnstown 
flood, massacres of Armenians in Turkey, and the 
Spanish-American War. 

She lived to be more than ninety years old and 
to the day of her death “the little Red Cross 
Mother” made service the guiding principle of 
her life. To her the nature of the service did 
not seem important as long as she was doing 
something really useful. 

“My dear,” she once said to a young friend of 
hers, “we all tumble over opportunities for being 
brave and doing good at every step we take. 
Life is just made of such opportunities.” 

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING 

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear. 
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it 
should be blithe and strong. 

The carpenter singing his as he measures his 
plank or beam, 

The mason singing his as he makes ready for 
work, or leaves off work. 

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his 
boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat 
deck, 

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench* 
the hatter singing as he stands, 


A Message from France 135 

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his 
way in the morning, or at noon intermission 
or at sundown, 

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the 
young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or 
washing, 

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to 
none else. 

The day what belongs to the day—at night the 
party of young fellows, robust, friendly. 

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious 
songs. 

Walt Whitman. 


A MESSAGE FROM FRANCE* 

The following letter, translated by Ellen Finley, is one 
of the many messages which have been received from the 
schools of France in response to the messages from Amer¬ 
ican schools carried to them by John H. Finley, Com¬ 
missioner of Education and president of the Univer¬ 
sity of the State of New York. It comes from a pupil 
in the Lycee Victor Duruy in Paris, which he visited on 
the 25th of May, 1917, and there heard the pupils singing 
“The Star-Spangled Banner” in French, and crying in 
chorus “Vive l’Amerique!” 

It was only a little river, almost a brook; 
it was called the Yser. One could talk from one 


•Reprinted by permission of John H. Finley. 



136 


The Spirit of America 

side to the other without raising one’s voice, and 
the birds could fly over it with one sweep of their 
wings. And on the two banks there were mil¬ 
lions of men, the one turned toward the other, 
eye to eye. But the distance which separated 
them was greater than the stars in the sky; it was 
the distance which separates right from injustice. 

The ocean is so vast that the seagulls do not 
dare to cross it. During seven days and seven 
nights the great steamships of America, going at 
full speed, drive through the deep waters before 
the lighthouses of France come into view; but 
from one side to another the hearts are touching. 

Odette Gastinet. 

LYCEE VICTOR DURUY, PARIS. 


OUR COUNTRY* 

We give our natal day to hope, 

O Country of our love and prayer! 
Thy way is down no fatal slope, 

But up to freer sun and air. 

Tried as by furnace-fires, and yet 
By God’s grace only stronger made. 
In future task before thee set 

Thou shalt not lack the old-time aid. 


•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company. 



Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American 137 

The fathers sleep, but men remain 
As wise, as true, and brave as they; 

Why count the loss and not the gain?— 
The best is that we have to-day. 

Great without seeking to be great 
By fraud or conquest, rich in gold, 

But richer in the large estate 

Of virtue which thy children hold. 

With peace that comes of purity 
And strength to simple justice due, 

So run our loyal dreams of thee; 

God of our fathers!—make it true. 

O Land of lands! to thee we give 

Our prayers, our hopes, our service free; 

For thee thy sons shall nobly live, 

And at thy need shall die for thee! 

John Greenleaf Whittier. 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT: A REAL 
AMERICAN 

“Theodore Roosevelt is dead.” That was 
the news which flashed round the world, January 
6, 1919. Then people in this country and in 
Europe said: “The United States has lost one 
of her greatest men. He was a real American.” 


138 The Spirit of America 

Now what did they mean by “a real Amer¬ 
ican”? Did they think that Roosevelt was like 
most Americans? In one respect, surely, he 
differed from most of his countrymen. He was 
always wealthy, whereas nearly all Americans 
are not rich. 

He was born in a large, comfortable house in 
New York City—quite different from the log 
cabin of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood. Every 
summer the family went to their country home. 
This was a delightful place where there were 
many pets—“cats, dogs, rabbits, a coon, and a 
sorrel Shetland pony named General Grant.” 

Unlike Lincoln, Theodore had well-educated 
parents to instruct him and provide him with all 
the books and magazines he wanted. He had 
an aunt who taught him when he was small, and 
later, tutors and a French governess. 

He was taken to Europe when he was ten years 
old and again when he was fourteen. On the 
second trip he visited Egypt, Syria, Greece, 
and Constantinople. Later, with his younger 
brother and sister, he spent the summer in a 
German family in Dresden. 

At eighteen he entered Harvard University, 
where he did very well in his studies and in all 
sports and pastimes. He was a leader in base¬ 
ball, football, rowing, and boxing. He had, you 



© Underwood & Underwood 

Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American 








Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American 139 

see, because his parents were rich and wise, “a 
better chance ” than most boys and girls. 

As a result of his education, he knew a great 
deal about a great many things. In this, also, he 
differed from most Americans, for the average 
man knows more or less about just one thing— 
his daily business. Roosevelt, if he had chosen, 
could have earned his living in a score of ways. 

He was, for example, an expert in natural 
history. This subject, which is the study of the 
great world out-of-doors, appealed to him when 
he was very young. As a small boy walking up 
Broadway in New York City, he saw a dead 
seal on a slab of wood. It so excited his curiosity 
that he haunted the place, measured the animal 
as best he could with a folding pocket foot-rule, 
and began to write a natural history of his own. 
In some way he managed to get the skull of that 
seal and with it started what he called “The 
Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.” 

Later, when he went to Egypt, he collected 
many birds and learned their names. In Ger¬ 
many he kept his friends nervous by bringing 
home hedgehogs and snakes, which were always 
escaping from partially closed drawers. He was 
allowed, when thirteen years old, to take lessons 
in taxidermy and was able to prepare the speci¬ 
mens he collected. 


140 The Spirit of America 

In later years, when he became a ranchman in 
the West, he came face to face with mountain 
sheep, bobcats, grizzly bears, and other big game 
found in the Rockies. In Africa he shot four 
kinds of dangerous game: the lion, the elephant, 
the rhinoceros, and the buffalo. 

His trophies he gave to museums and institutes 
so that other people could see and enjoy them. 
What he learned about the habits of animals, he 
recorded in books like his “Hunting Trips of a 
Ranchman” and “Life Histories of African Game 
Animals.” 

Another subject about which he knew more 
than most people was the history of his own 
country. The first book he ever wrote was a 
“History of the Naval War of 1812,” published 
two years after he left college. People liked it 
because it told the truth about the battles in that 
war. It gave credit to the English soldiers 
when they deserved it, as well as to the Ameri¬ 
cans. To-day a copy of this book is kept in the 
library of every ship in the American navy. 

But Roosevelt did more than just write about 
battles in our history. He fought battles and 
fought them bravely. At the outbreak of our 
struggle with Spain, he went to Cuba with a 
company of Rough-Riders. In the face of 
heavy fire he led his men up San Juan Hill with 


Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American 141 

wonderful courage and gallantry. This brave 
deed alone would have made him a famous man. 

He became a great statesman. He was 
Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of 
New York State, Vice-President of the United 
States, and finally President. 

As President, he did an important work in 
securing laws to save our national riches. He 
realized that if our country was to continue to 
be “America the beautiful” and “America the 
prosperous,” her forests, mineral lands, water¬ 
ways, and game must be protected. He also 
started the building of the Panama Canal, which 
is the greatest task of its kind that has ever been 
accomplished. 

Now Roosevelt did not become a great man 
without hard, persistent effort on his part. He 
was greater than most Americans because he 
had more “grit.” He could overcome greater 
obstacles. 

The first of these was ill-health. As a little 
boy he was sickly and delicate. He suffered so 
much from asthma that his parents often took 
him on trips to find a place where he could 
breathe. 

“One of my memories,” he said, in later years, 
“is of my father walking up and down the room 
with me in his arms at night, when I was a very 


142 


The Spirit of America 

small person, and of sitting up in bed, gasping, 
with my father and mother trying to help me.” 

His eyesight, too, was so bad that he was 
clumsy and awkward as he moved. When he 
received his first gun, he was distressed to find 
that other boys saw things to shoot at which he 
could not see at all. 

Spectacles helped the poor eyesight, but it was 
his own determination to be a healthy boy that 
improved his general health. He admired strong 
men and decided he would not be a weakling. 

When he was fourteen, he was sent to find 
relief from his asthma at Moosehead Lake. On 
the stage-coach trip thither he met two boys of 
his own age who kept tormenting him. Theo¬ 
dore tried to fight to protect himself but dis¬ 
covered that either boy alone could handle him 
easily. Then and there he determined to learn 
to box, and he began as soon as he had his 
father’s approval. He was at first a very slow 
and awkward pupil and worked hard for three 
years before he made much progress. He kept 
at it, though, through his college days and even 
after he was President, until he became a strong, 
robust man with an arm like iron. 

Roosevelt did the best he could with what he 
had. One of his friends has said of him: 

“Out of a weak child he made a powerful man. 


Theodore Roosevelt: A Real American 143 

Out of half blindness he made a boxer, a great 
reader, and a good shot. Out of a liking for 
books he made a distinguished writer. Out of a 
poor voice and awkward manner he made an 
orator. And out of a sense of duty he made a 
soldier and a statesman.” 

It was that very sense of duty to his nation 
that made Theodore Roosevelt “a real Ameri¬ 
can.” He believed in his native land and was 
eager and fearless in preserving the liberty for 
which this country stands. 

Not long before his death he was called upon 
to make a great sacrifice. When the United 
States entered the World War, he sent into the 
struggle his four sons, whose lives were a thou¬ 
sand times more dear to him than his own. After 
a few months the news came that the youngest 
boy, Lieutenant Quentin, had been killed by 
the Germans in an airplane combat. Colonel 
Roosevelt never faltered; instead, he said simply 
and bravely: 

“Quentin’s mother and I are very glad he got 
to the front and had the chance to render some 
service to his country, and to show the stuff 
there was in him before his fate befell him.” 

This is the spirit of “a real American”—the 
spirit of a man who gives his best to the cause of 
liberty. 


144 


The Spirit of America 


JOHN JOSEPH PERSHING 

Every American is very proud of our soldiers 
who went to France, there to fight for right and 
justice and freedom. Our boys were brave and 
their work brings only honor to their flag and 
country. The American soldier was admired for 
his clean looks, for his sprightly step, for his 
courage, for his kindness to women and children, 
for his intelligence and his character. He was 
all that a soldier should be. 

These soldiers were taken from field and fac¬ 
tory and store and bank, from college and school, 
from home and business circles. In a few 
months they had become a mighty army. The 
drill was severe and the soldiers’ duties were 
many. But the army was planned well, with rules 
of conduct and standards of bravery clearly de¬ 
fined. So high were our standards that it became 
a great honor to be in the American army. 

The man who led this wonderful army is 
General John J. Pershing. He had in his mind 
what a soldier should be. He mapped out a 
course of training that produced soldiers as they 
should be. He went to France to learn the 
needs of the war conditions where our soldiers 
were to fight. There he planned his army. As 
hundreds of thousands of soldiers landed, he 


John Joseph Pershing 145 

knit them together into a great army and in six 
months of severe fighting that army turned the 
tide of battle for freedom, justice, and right. 

General Pershing is the ideal soldier. His men 
could look up to him as a model, always. Erect 
and stalwart, he looks every inch a soldier. A 
stern face before duty and danger inspires confi¬ 
dence in his officers. That face opens into a 
kindly, friendly smile when danger passes and 
friends are by. A gentle heart beats in the sol¬ 
dier breast of General Pershing. 

John Joseph Pershing spent his boyhood in 
Laclede, Missouri. There he went to school. 
Even as a boy he was noted for his steady pur¬ 
pose and for the bull-dog grip with which he 
took hold of his work. For example, he set out 
to get an education in spite of the fact that the 
family was not wealthy. He got his lessons in 
school. While he was not as brilliant as some 
boys, he had the will to stick to it. This made 
him a leader wherever he went. 

He taught school in order to get money to 
continue his education. One school was for 
Negro boys which won for him the nickname 
“Black Jack” Pershing. Then he entered the 
Kirksville, Missouri, Normal School, still looking 
forward to becoming a teacher, but yet more to 
getting the best education. When a call came 


146 


The Spirit of America 

for an examination to enter West Point, he de¬ 
cided to try, not so much to get into the army, 
as to get more education. It was his hope to 
resign from the army as soon as he had served 
his country long enough to repay the cost of his 
education. 

As a cadet at West Point, Pershing again 
came to the front as a leader. He stood a little 
above the middle of his class in scholarship, a 
place won by steady work. But he stood first 
in the class as leader. He was president of his 
class, the class of ’86, chosen to that honor by his 
classmates. He was cadet captain in his senior 
year, chosen for that honor by the authorities of 
the military academy. He was the kind of young 
man on whom you can always depend. The 
mark of the leader was on him—the clear eye, the 
open, steadfast, honest face, the erect figure, the 
confident step, the fearlessness expressed by his 
square jaw. 

This rare young soldier went out into the 
United States Army as a second lieutenant in 
1886. He fought the Indians and won early 
mention for merit from his commanding officer, 
General Niles. Young Lieutenant Pershing led 
a cavalry troop and a pack train one hundred 
and forty miles in forty-six hours and brought in 
every man and every animal in good condition. 



General John J. Pershing at the Head of His Troops Passing on Parade Through the Victory 

Arch, New York, September 10, 1919 















147 


John Joseph Pershing 

The Spanish War in 1898 found him a first 
lieutenant in the Tenth Cavalry. He was in the 
same brigade as the Rough Riders under Colonel 
Theodore Roosevelt, sharing in the battles 
of San Juan and El Caney. His commanding 
officer called him the coolest man under fire that 
he had ever seen. He came out of the war a 
captain. 

Captain Pershing saw much service in the 
Philippine Islands. He conquered the Moros in 
a series of brilliant campaigns and was recom¬ 
mended by General Davis for promotion to 
brigadier general. But promotions come slowly 
in the army in peace times. President Roosevelt 
asked Congress to promote Captain Pershing 
to colonel for his great ability and valuable 
services. Congress failed to do so. President 
Roosevelt then appointed him brigadier general, 
advancing him over 862 officers of higher rank. 
This was in 1903. After that he was attached 
to the Japanese army as military observer in the 
Russo-Japanese War, and later saw more service 
against the Moros in the Philippines. He again 
won honors in each field, receiving special men¬ 
tion from Major General J. Franklin Bell then 
in command of the Philippine field. 

General Pershing was not quite 55 years old 
when he was sent to the Mexican border in 1915. 


148 The Spirit of America 

His task there was very difficult, especially so 
because he was not allowed to push his campaign 
into Mexico. But the worth of the man and the 
soldier and the military leader had by this time 
been so fully proved that he was selected to lead 
our army into France. His military judgment 
was sound and mature. He was yet young 
enough to endure the hardships of war. He was 
the tried and true leader to whom we entrusted 
our untrained boys, and he made them into an 
army of modern crusaders. 

General Pershing has put into the army under 
him those soldierly qualities which we admire in 
him. We are happy to believe that if the four 
million soldier faces of our army could be pressed 
•into one single face, that face would be Pershing. 
If we could make one model soldier out of all the 
good things in the American soldiers, that model 
soldier would be Pershing. How proud America 
may be and must be of this splendid man! 

The moment General Pershing arrived in 
France his soldierly quality made itself felt. 
He went there eager to learn from the British 
and French generals. He was humble but eager. 
This won the confidence of the Allies. Whatever 
he learned, he at once taught his army with 
exactness and thoroughness. As a result our 
army was able to enter the battle-line well led, 


149 


To the Allies 

well fed, well clothed, well armed. Our men’s 
health was well cared for by exercise and recrea¬ 
tion. The spirit of the army was like the spirit 
of its commander. The men knew why they 
had come to France. They did not fight because 
they loved war but because they loved peace; just 
so Pershing had entered West Point, not because 
he wanted to make war-a life work, but because 
he valued the education provided by West Point 
and hoped to use it in works of peace. 

The American soldier brought hope and cour¬ 
age to the war-weary soldiers of the Allies. 
Their lithe bodies and their steady flow by the 
hundred thousand into the battle-line expressed 
the youthful strength of America. In this army 
of young America John J. Pershing is the model 
American soldier and man. He expresses the 
spirit of America—its love of liberty, its cham¬ 
pionship of justice and right, its youth, its 
energy, its hope, its courage. 

TO THE ALLIES* 

Hands across the sea, brothers! 

Hands across the sea! 

Here’s a flag to fly with yours. 

The emblem of the free. 


•Reprinted from “Fifes and Drums” by permission of The Vigilantes. 



150 


The Spirit of America 

Holy hands of freemen gave it, 

Heart and life we pledge to save it. 

At your side we lift and wave it, 

Now for Liberty! 

Hands across the sea, brothers! 

Hands across the sea! 

Here’s a sword to draw with yours, 
’Gainst monstrous tyranny. 

Valiant hearts have beat beneath it. 
Deathless laurels still enwreathe it. 
Sadly, sternly, we unsheathe it, 

Now for Liberty. 

Hands around the world, brothers! 

Hands around the world! 

Fling the married colors out. 

Never to be furled; 

Till the power of Light prevailing, 
Vict’ry’s heights in triumph scaling. 
Sees the power of Darkness, failing, 
Down in ruin hurled. 

Laura E. Richards. 


WOODROW WILSON 

America has always found a man prepared for 
great deeds whenever the nation was in great 



© Sun Printing & Publishing Association 

President Wilson at His Desk in the White House 







Woodrow Wilson 


151 


need. The American Revolution had its Wash¬ 
ington to lead its armies through suffering and 
even through defeat to victory. The young 
American nation, with its new-won liberty, had 
the same Washington to guide its first steps in 
government. 

The new American nation had Alexander 
Hamilton to explain the Constitution. He 
brought all the colonies into the new union of 
states. He also gave the new nation a sound 
business foundation. 

The nation had Abraham Lincoln when the 
union of states was breaking in the strife about 
slavery. That great, warm-hearted leader was 
able to make of the United States a more perfect 
union. 

When the War of the Nations came to America 
in 1917 we had Woodrow Wilson to make known 
the meaning of American Democracy to all the 
world. Democracy was his watchword and the 
oppressed people even in enemy lands rallied to 
his call. 

America is to-day a great nation of free people 
where every man and woman has a chance to 
make the most of life. Everyone has a share in 
the government which seeks the good of all the 
people. No one person can take away the liberty 
of others. No one among us has special privi- 



152 The Spirit of America 

leges. We all enjoy liberty equally. We all seek 
happiness in peace and in prosperity and in 
justice to all. 

America looks out on the nations of the world 
and sees some who do not enjoy such liberty. 
Some people are still bound under governments 
that are cruel. The Armenians were long op¬ 
pressed by the Turks. Some French people were 
forced to live under a German government which 
they disliked. Some Polish people were op¬ 
pressed by Germans; some by the Russian Czar; 
some by the Austrians. Some Danish people 
were forced to become part of Germany. In all 
these cases the people were denied freedom to 
choose their own rulers as we do in America. 

The War of the Nations began in 1914. The 
cruel nations, Germany, Austria, Turkey, tried 
to make their hold on their subjects stronger; 
the free nations tried to break that hold in order 
that all people might become free. The world 
sorely needed a leader who could speak for those 
people who never had a chance, a leader who 
could make clear the rights of the common 
people everywhere. This leader came when 
America gave Woodrow Wilson. 

Woodrow Wilson grew up very much like any 
other American boy. He lived among the plain 
people of our Southland, went to the people’s 


Woodrow Wilson 


153 


schools, and prepared to do his share of the 
people’s work. But in one thing he was different 
from many boys. He was interested in govern¬ 
ment. While he was a student in Princeton 
College he made a very careful study of the 
British Government where freedom and liberty 
were early fought for and won. So this young 
American college boy prepared himself to become 
a leader in affairs of government. He wanted 
to become a leader of the people and gave his 
time and strength to a study of the needs of the 
people. 

Woodrow Wilson, the man, was first a teacher 
of government in several colleges and later on 
ruled a university and governed a state, before 
he became President of the United States. In 
every place he has tried to enlarge the rights of 
the common people. Democracy became more 
real to the college boys over whom he presided 
at Princeton University. The people of New 
Jersey found in him a governor who protected 
their rights against all forms of wrong and op¬ 
pression, and gave him gladly to the nation to 
carry the banner of Democracy proud and high. 

So America again had a man prepared for great 
deeds when our nation was called on to take its 
place in the great family of nations. Woodrow 
Wilson is a great world leader because he is 


154 


The Spirit of America 

master of history and government. He knows 
the long story of man’s fight against oppression. 
He knows how Englishmen won their freedom, 
how Frenchmen fought for their ideal liberty and 
equality, how Italians became united in a free 
nation, how Greeks and Romans in other earlier 
days won and lost their free governments. He 
knows how government may make sure the rights 
of the people. And so he speaks for America 
among all the nations of the earth, making 
known everywhere the blessings of Democracy. 


THE SHIP OF STATE* 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 

Sail on, O Union strong and great! 
Humanity, with all its fears, 

With all the hopes of future years, 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 

We know what Master laid thy keel. 
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, 
Who made each mast and sail and rope, 
What anvils rang, what hammers beat. 

In what a forge and what a heat 
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! 


•Reprinted by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin Company. 



155 


Our Young Americans 

Pear not each sudden sound and shock, 

Tis of the wave and not the rock; 

’Tis but the flapping of the sail. 

And not a rent made by the gale! 

In spite of rock and tempest’s roar, 

In spite of false lights on the shore, 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 
Our faith triumphant o’er our fears, 

Are all with thee,—are all with thee! 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 


OUR YOUNG AMERICANS 
The Boy Scout 

The boys who are banded together as Boy 
Scouts are daily preparing to become good Amer¬ 
icans. Their motto is “Be Prepared.” That 
tells much. The true American must “be pre¬ 
pared” with a strong body to defend his coun¬ 
try’s honor; he must “be prepared” with a trade 
or useful occupation to do or make something 
that will be useful to himself and his neighbors; 
he must “be prepared” with a trained mind to 
think straight about the Government that it may 


156 


The Spirit of America 

protect the weak, check the criminals, and give 
every honest man a chance. Every boy may 
make “Be Prepared” his own motto and become 
a scout, a helper in every place of need. 

Scout Virtues 

Scouts are not perfect but they have virtues 
of which they are proud. They name them in 
their scout manual and each scout must try to 
make each virtue his own. Boys who learn 
these virtues will become the useful and success¬ 
ful citizens of America. They may be scouts 
or not, but if they have these habits they will 
“be prepared” to do the best for their country. 
Here are the scout virtues: 

Obedience is a habit of self-control by which 
the scout follows the orders of his chief, heeds 
the requests of his parents, yields to the wishes 
of his elders, observes the laws of the state. 
If he learns to obey he may later learn to com¬ 
mand. Obedience means that the scout will not 
let himself do a mean or low act; that he will not 
let himself tell an untruth; that he will not let 
himself injure his own health. 

Courtesy is politeness; it is kind and respect¬ 
ful speech at all times, to parents, to ladies, to 
strangers, to friends, to acquaintances, to every- 


157 


Our Young Americans 

body. Courtesy also means kind acts to all, 
giving first place to others, to the weak, the 
needy, to all persons of importance. 

Loyalty means standing by your side— 
standing by your country, by your home and all 
the members of your family. Stand by any 
organization to which you belong, church, 
school, club, society or village or city or state. 
Stand by the truth. 

Self-respect is a feeling that you are too 
good to be mean. Never accept a “tip.” 
Money may be accepted as wages or as salary 
at a rate agreed upon or well known in advance. 
A “tip” will destroy self-respect. 

Honor means you will do what you agree to 
do, that you will do and act in all things up to 
the best that is in you. 

Faithfulness to duty requires you to do 
certain things for your parents, your companions, 
and your community, because the things should 
be done, whether you enjoy doing them or not. 
Chores about the house must be done. Your 
companions must have your protection. The 
health and safety of your village must be made 
sure and strong. Find out your duties, then do 
each one faithfully. 

Cheerfulness is happiness that can be felt 
foy your companions. Your smile will cheer 


158 


The Spirit of America 

others. Your cheerful words will gladden others. 
Make others feel your good cheer. 

Thoughtfulness is made up of two things: 
forgetting selfish interests; thinking of the com¬ 
fort of others. Be sure to include the comfort of 
animals. A good scout will gladly bear added 
hardship that dumb animals may not suffer. 

Helping somebody in some way each day 
is counted the chief scout virtue. “Be Pre¬ 
pared” to do a good turn every day. Wherever 
you find need, there you find your opportunity. 

The scout has twelve points by which he is 
known. He is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, 
friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, 
thrifty, brave, clean, reverent. Any boy who 
would be proud to be known by these points 
may become a Boy Scout. 


THE RULES OF THE GAME* 

Boys and girls who are good Americans try 
to become strong and useful, that our country 
may become ever greater and better. Therefore 
they obey the laws of right living which the best 
Americans have always obeyed. 

*Adapted from the Hutchins Morality Code by permission of The National Institution 
for Moral Instruction, Inc. 



The Rules of the Game 


159 


The Law of Health 

The Good American Tries to Gain and to 
Keep Perfect Health. 

The welfare of our country depends upon 
those who try to be physically fit for their daily 
work. Therefore: 

1. I will keep my clothes, my body and my 
mind clean. 

2. I will avoid those habits which would harm 
me, and will make and never break those habits 
which will help me. 

3. I will try to take such food, sleep, and exer¬ 
cise as will keep me in perfect health. 


The Law of Self-control 

The Good American Controls Himself. 

Those who best control themselves can best 
serve their country. 

1. I will control my tongue , and will not allow 
it to speak mean, vulgar, or profane words. 

2. I will control my temper , and will not get 
angry when people or things displease me. 

3. I will control my thoughts , and will not 
allow a foolish wish to spoil a wise purpose. 


160 


The Spirit of America 


The Law of Self-reliance 

The Good American is Self-Reliant. 

Self-conceit is silly, but self-reliance is neces¬ 
sary to boys and girls who would be strong and 
useful. 

1. I will gladly listen to the advice of older and 
wiser people; I will reverence the wishes of those 
who love and care for me, and who know life 
and me better than I; but I will learn to think 
for myself, choose for myself, act for myself. 

2. I will not be afraid of being laughed at. I 
will not be afraid of doing right when the 
crowd does wrong. Fear never made a good 
American. 


The Law of Reliability 

The Good American is Reliable. 

Our country grows great and good as her 
citizens are able more fully to trust each 
other. Therefore: 

1. I will be honest, in word and in act. I will 
not lie, sneak, or pretend, nor will I keep the 
truth from those who have a right to it. 

2. I will not do wrong in the hope of not being 
found out. I cannot hide the truth from myself 
and cannot often hide it from others. 


The Rules of the Game 161 

3. I will not take without permission what does 
not belong to me. 

4. I will do promptly what I have promised 
to do. If I have made a foolish promise, I will 
at once confess my mistake, and I will try to 
make good any harm which my mistake may 
have caused. I will so speak and act that people 
will find it easier to trust each other.* 

William J. Hutchins. 

♦Other laws from the Code will be found in “The Spirit of America,” Books Three 
and Four. 



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